


The Bachelor: Italia Amore!

by eri_quin



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, F/M, Genderbending, The Author Regrets Nothing, reality show, the bachelor - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-08
Updated: 2017-11-14
Packaged: 2018-09-15 20:48:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 59,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9256460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eri_quin/pseuds/eri_quin
Summary: "…Or that's what they want to name the season," his secretary said.It really shouldn't have been this way.Rumors of Giovanni being the Rocket Boss has been spreading and being taken more seriously than before -so Matori suggests, per the suggestion of the PR teams of Gio Corp. and Team Rocket, that he goes on the reality show The Bachelor to improve his image and make people forget those rumors.Only he didn't expect the bane of his team, the one and only Ash Ketchum, to be one of thirty women on his season, and to be absolutely charming. He enlists her help with his image and she goes along with it, only to find things become very complicated between them very quickly.He should have quit while he was ahead.Fem!Ash, ShatterShipping.





	1. This Wasn't What I Signed Up For!

Giovanni Rocketto, boss of Team Rocket, stared at his secretary.

"What did you say, Matori?"

Matori didn't bat an eye, only raising an eyebrow at her boss. She held up some papers.

"I have signed you up to be the next Bachelor on the reality show _The Bachelor_." The fact she said it so deadpan made it sound even more incredulous.

He dimly wondered if this was some plan by Ariana, as his female Executive had a tendency to try to set him up with others in an effort to find a way to continue his line for the good of the Team. If it sounded as crazy as it did him thinking it, it was because it was –he was sure Ariana had problems in the head. So did Proton for encouraging the red head, but then again, his subordinate only supported it because he believed Giovanni would be less of a hard ass.

Fat chance.

"If this is some kind of ploy by Ariana –"

"As you are aware, sir," Matori interrupted, pushing up her glasses. "You are under scrutiny and the rumors of you being the boss of Team Rocket are no longer being taken as rumors and jokes, as we have been informed by our contacts in the International Police and which have been slowly spreading through to some of the public. Public Relations has decided that this is the best course for you to take, in order to promote your image and protect your reputation."

"By being on a reality show," Giovanni gave her a bland look.

She didn't look phased. "Yes."

"A _dating_ reality show."

"Research has shown those who appear on the show seem to usually have an increase of popularity –if they're well-liked, it's positive popularity. The 'villains' of the show seem to become notorious and/or end up with a redemption arc in a concurring show off-shoot. Now if you were the Bachelor and had a successful season, not only would your popularity increase, but many more opportunities could open up for you, along with the fact that at least the public will forget about all those sayings of you being the Rocket Boss."

"Which Publics Relations department was this? _Gio_ Corp. or the Team's?" Giovanni grumbled, starting to reluctantly think it over as he sat himself down.

"Both, sir."

That just made him want to smack his hand against his face.

"You do realize that at the end of this, as I heard, I'm going to be expected to propose to someone," he told her exasperatedly. "Whoever it is will have to find out about my _illegal criminal organization_."

"Not really," Matori frowned briefly, a disappointed look on her face for a second (what was up with that?). "Many of the couples tend to break up some time after, so you don't have to stay engaged with them too long. _The Bachelorette_ has a much more successful rate of the end couples staying together and getting married." She seemed to brighten up at that.

Giovanni had a strong suspicion that Matori was a huge romantic at heart…

"Oh, alright," Giovanni gave in. "I'll do it."

Matori actually smiled at that. She patted his shoulder gently. "Don't worry, sir. It'll be quite easy for you. Just act as you do for potential and actual business partners, and for most women you come across when it doesn't come to work or the Team."

Giovanni grumbled something under his breath, but he nodded unwillingly. Hopefully, this would turn out to be more of a break and maybe some fun, rather than just more work for him to do.

* * *

Ash Ketchum was finally home after years of being on the road. Of course, being in Alola had been fun and all, but she was exhausted from the long flight and having gone through a lot in those years. Now she was back in Pallet Town and things seemed to have changed, and yet also not at the same time.

"It's really good to have you home, baby," her mother hugged her again for the nth time.

Delia had been ecstatic when Ash had announced she'd be coming home –and staying home (at least for a long while) –and when she'd spread the word to the whole town, a homecoming party had been quickly organized.

Ash hadn't known how missed she'd been until she saw the whole town on the Oak Laboratory yard, and everyone was cheering when she'd stepped out of the taxi to see all of them. It had been really touching.

"Delia's right," Professor Oak smiled warmly at her. "It's been so long. I've quite missed my favorite trainer."

Ash smiled widely. "Better than Gary?"

"Gary gave up. And he's not necessarily a trainer anymore," Oak indulged her.

Ash snickered. "Damn right. Thanks for stroking my ego, Sammy."

Oak rolled his eyes good-naturedly. Then he hesitated before he went to Delia's side and then tentatively reached to grab Delia's hand, which Ash noted in surprise. Both of them looked at her anxiously and Ash figured it out.

"Oh," she blinked. "So that happened."

"We don't want you to be upset or to be weirded out," Delia started out keenly.

"I know the age difference is large," Oak continued.

Ash interrupted. "I don't care about the age difference," she blurted out to their surprise. "I'm just weirded out because of you two. I mean, it's more because I've known Sam for a long time and it's just strange to see you two together. But I'll get used to it, I'm sure."

She gave them a reassuring smile that they answered with relieved ones.

"I guess I really have been gone for a long time," Ash laughed, rubbing the back of her head. "Ah, geez! I've missed a lot!"

Delia and Oak brought her into a group hug.

"Don't worry about it," Oak chuckled.

"I'm just happy you're home," Delia sighed.

"It's good to be home," Ash murmured and she closed her eyes.

* * *

When morning broke out over Pallet Town, Ash sleepily got out of bed and got ready for the day, waking up Pikachu in the process. After a quick shower and brush of her teeth, she and Pikachu headed downstairs to find her mother and Oak already talking over pancakes and eggs.

"Morning," she called out. "Pika," Pikachu echoed with a large yawn.

They greeted them morning too and she slid into a seat next to Oak while Pikachu went to bask in the sun over at the windowsill.

"So what do I call you now?" she started with a mischievous look on her face. "Professor? Sam? _Dad_?"

Oak choked on some eggs. "You haven't called me 'Professor' in ages," he said once he cleared his throat. "You're used to calling me Sam, so that's alright. I mean, I-I wouldn't mind it if one day you were comfortable enough to call me Dad…" he started to mumble.

Ash smiled warmly at him and patted his back. Then she turned to the food and gathered some for her own plate.

"I was thinking, Ash," Delia said as she finished cooking the last of the pancakes. "Well, this might be silly, but…I signed you up to be a contestant on _The Bachelor_."

This time, it was Ash's turn to choke on her food. Only it didn't let up and Oak panicked, hitting her back to help her clear her throat while Delia came over in alarm.

"Why…why would you do that?" Ash asked haltingly, still trying to clear her throat and breathe normally.

Seeing Ash going back to normal, Delia went back to starting to get excited.

"I saw the ad! They were looking for women to go on the show for the new season, and I was thinking that maybe it's time for you to at least try dating," Delia told her giddily. "It'll be good for you! Even if you're new to the dating scene and all, at least you're going out there and trying."

Ash looked at her incredulously (so was Oak, but he was trying to hide it). "You're kidding, right, Mom?"

Delia was still looking excited. "Of course not, sweetie! Maybe you'll finally find a man, and eventually I'll get my grandkids and –"

Ash was glad she hadn't been eating or drinking anything, or else she would have choked again or done a spit take.

"I don't know, Mom," she said unsurely.

"Just try it for me?" Delia gave her a hopeful look. "I would be really happy if you at least gave it a try and see if maybe you'll like the guy. Or at least do it for the experience –I hear a lot of those contestants come on for the experience."

Ash sighed, but nodded. "Alright, alright."

"Great!" Delia beamed at her. "So I've already signed you up and sent the papers, and if they like you, they'll send us a letter back asking for you to make an audition video for the show. After that, I think they'll decide whether or not to have you come in person."

Ash really hoped that they decided against her and chose someone else.

However, a few days later, her wish was dashed as she found the letter and was almost tempted to throw it away and pretend it was never there. She didn't want to upset her mother though, and lie to her face…

Which led to her being inside of the Corral and being videotaped by Oak, while her mother silently cheered her on.

"Sooo, hi? I'm Ash and I'm a pokémon trainer…"

She talked about herself as she occasionally played with the pokémon and helped take care of them and feed them, though she felt and sounded awkward most of the time. At least she thought so. She didn't really talk about herself much! To anyone really.

After that, she, Delia, and Oak mailed it back and waited. Honestly, Ash was hoping that it was a no-go again, but when she saw her mother excitedly talking on the phone, she felt like she'd lucked out again.

"I'm guessing that I'm in?" she asked with a scrunch of her nose.

Delia clapped her hands in excitement. "Not quite, but they would like you to go to the Viridian Fall Hotel this Saturday –they're holding casting calls there and they'd like you to pop in. You won't have to wait in line –I sent in a recommendation for you and along with the audition tape, they decided they like you and they want you to come in person to meet with them and answer a few questions and sign a few consent forms."

This was such a pain, but Ash didn't have the heart to say no to her mom. She gave a small smile and nodded, and her mother just got more excited and gushed over it.

That meant she had to bike over to Viridian City and find the hotel her mom talked about, and then found herself gaping at the long line that stretched around the block for women wanting to be on the show.

"Well, hell…at least I don't have to wait in _that_ ," she muttered, finding a place to put her bike at and lock it up. She then walked to the entrance and managed to get in, pretending she wasn't there for auditions. She didn't look it either, comparing herself to the other women. She was completely underdressed –the rest of them were all dressed up, while Ash had a t-shirt and jeans and some sneakers. It was kind of embarrassing actually.

"So not here for the thingy, huh?" one of the guards asked as she moved passed him and looked around the lobby, wondering what to do now.

"Er, not really," she gave a feeble smile.

"Ash Ketchum?" she heard someone call out and she blinked, turning to face a handsome stranger who waved.

She excused herself from the guard quickly and headed over to the man, hoping he'd be able to help her out.

"I'm Wesley Feller, one of the producers for the show. I was told by the Casting Director to keep a lookout for you and bring you to the casting panel," he said with a welcoming grin. "Please follow me."

"So…what's up with that group back there?" she hesitantly started idle talk.

"It's a casting call for some other spots on the show," Wesley told her nonchalantly. "They'll wait in line, get in, fill out a questionnaire, and then get seen by someone and asked a few questions from the questionnaire while being videotaped. They, along with our online and mailed submissions, will be thumbed through carefully and be chosen carefully."

"Oh," was all Ash managed to say. Though on that…"What about me?"

Wesley tossed her a friendly look. "A few contestants have caught our eye already, so we handle those differently. Just yesterday, one of my colleagues walked by a building and spotted someone through the window that he thought would be perfect for the show. He came and asked if she wanted to be on a TV show and she agreed to it."

Ash thought that was interesting, but didn't have time to wonder about anything else as apparently they reached their destination and Wesley had held the door opened for her. Nervously entering the room, she saw a handful of people sitting behind a long desk chatting with each other. But once she entered, their attention turned to her and she felt like a Deerling in front of headlights.

"Hi," the one in the middle gave a friendly smile. "Don't be nervous. You're Ash, right?"

"Y-yes," Ash confirmed, trying not to fidget in her place in front of them.

"Good. Why won't we start off?" he said and then they began asking her questions.

What was her name? What did she do? How old was she?

And on and on it went as she stayed there and answered their questions until they were finally satisfied.

"Thank you for your time," the man in the middle said, still smiling friendly at her.

Wesley was back at her side and then bringing her out of that room.

"Did it go well, you think?" Ash's nerves really were bothering her by now.

"Very," Wesley reassured her. "Take a deep breath? Good? Good. Now, I have to give you some papers for you to look at and then sign if you're going to agree to be on the show," he told her.

"Wait, wait, does this mean I'm in?" she asked incredulously, part of her relieved and the other part disappointed that she wasn't rejected.

"More or less," he replied. "So these papers are for you to sign if you're alright with having a full background check being performed on you," he handed her some papers that she read over and then signed. "These papers are for you to agree to STD testing," which made her face turn red. "After which, you can head to the clinic a block from here and get tested immediately and they'll send the results over. After that, please sign here if you'll agree to a three-day psych evaluation, which you can start tomorrow at the same clinic."

Ash blinked at him a few times, before reading over the following papers and signing them carefully.

"After all that's done, you just have to take a few camera tests to see how photogenic you are," Wesley stopped there and Ash thought her mind was close to being overloaded.

"That is…a lot," she said faintly.

"Yeah, I can see it is," Wesley hummed thoughtfully. "It's needed though. We like to be very thorough with our contestants."

He collected the papers, stapled them together and placed it in a folder that Ash noticed her name was written on it.

"If you're a definite cast, we'll let you know within a couple of days after all the testing is done, okay?"

Ash cleared her throat. "O-okay."

Oh Arceus, why was it so much work just for one dating show?!

* * *

"Her…and her," Wesley listened in as everyone looked at the photos of the girls they were considering for the spots.

He slid one in particular in view. "Definitely her," he said firmly.

One of his colleagues, Zachary Safir, frowned. "She's likable but young. Didn't her form imply that she _just_ recently turn 21? Giovanni's 37."

"First of all, she's the only pokémon trainer we have in our grouping," Wesley mentioned with a critical eye over the photos. "That instantly makes them have more in common than he and the others already. And she's not just a pokémon trainer, but a successful one."

"I saw her records though," Lisa Petrow, one of his main rivals, interrupted him. "She's never won any of the League competitions."

Wesley snorted. "Her ranking is still high. And actually, you should look at her records more closely. For one, she's the only trainer to have traveled in that many regions and also make it to the League competitions in the first place. She also starts off with nearly a new team of pokémon each time, which makes it impressive that she not only gets to that level, but manages to get to around the top ranks of the competitions. Most people, if they bother traveling to further regions in the first place, stick with their original team –and still don't get that far sometimes. She also is the only one in League history to always obtain the main gym badges, instead of going for any of the fringe ones."

Lisa reluctantly backed down at that.

"What role should we attach to her then? She doesn't seem the 'villain' type, which is one of the few character roles we still have to fill," Roger Henley, one of the other producers of the show, asked.

"No, no role," Wesley frowned to himself. "I think she'll develop on her own fine on TV. Her personality will come out on its own. She's the type to win over people and make them root for her."

"If you say so," Lisa gave a dismissive glance at Ash's photo. "I think she's one of the throwaways. She'll last at least to week 3, if not kicked out the first night."

Wesley was starting to get irritable, and was going to disagree vehemently (especially once he heard murmurs of agreement), but he kept himself from replying. If that's how they're going to think, fine. He, though, found himself quite believing in this girl.

"She's just too young and inexperienced," Zachary told him apologetically. "She'll be good for the show though. Definitely likable, like I said. And very pretty. I'd bank on her going a little longer, maybe to week 5. Heck, if I'm being optimistic, she could even at least make it to Hometown Dates."

They can all say what they want to say. He, and even the casting panel (especially the Casting Director) had definitely liked her and thought that she could make it to the top two and eventually be the next Bachelorette.

Started 7/28/16 – Completed 7/20/16


	2. The First Night

"' _The Bachelor: Italia Amore_ ,'" Matori spoke up, pushing up her glasses. "…Or that's what they want to name the season," his secretary said seriously, like this whole thing wasn't a joke.

Giovanni contemplated ignoring her.

"They were thinking of other variations, such as 'Amore Italiano' and the likes, but they settled on that, as they felt it was catchier."

"Can I pass? Do I even have a say? Forget it, I don't care," Giovanni pinched the bridge of his nose. "Besides that, I need the reports from the field units that have been moving through the regions."

"Yes, sir. Would you like me to put JJM's reports to the back of the pile as usual?"

Giovanni thought about it. When it came to that unit, he either got a kick out of their reports or got headaches. It depended really. But…reading about that Ketchum kid always did amuse the hell out of him, no matter whether the group's antics ended up giving him a headache or not…

"No, put them to the top," he decided. "I need something to entertain me right now."

"Right away, Giovanni sir."

He wondered how much he'd make off of a reality show based off of Jessie, James, and Meowth. Better yet, a show based off of that Ash Ketchum brat.

He chuckled to himself.

* * *

When Wesley Feller appeared on her doorstep, all of Ash's hopes of being rejected from the show and this whole thing being passed over and forgotten was lost. Instead, she invited him in with a twitching smile and told him to make himself at home.

"Good news or bad news?" she asked, though she knew 'good news' would actually be bad news for her.

"Good news, though it doesn't look like you consider it to be," Wesley noted, grinning slightly.

Ash grimaced. "I didn't exactly sign myself up for it. My _mother_ submitted my name. I'm pretty skeptical of this whole process, but I promised her I'd give it a try or at least go for the experience."

He nodded. "Most of the women come in skeptical –by the way, try not to use the word 'process' on the show. Most of us prefer the word 'journey,' and 5 out of 10 times we'll end up reshooting the scene to replace the word. In any case, most of the women will be skeptical going in –to be honest, we come up with and need only about half of them to be genuinely there for the guy.

"We cast a group of women based on what our Bachelor has told us is more or less his type, and some or more outside of that –especially if they request it. Out of that group, we need at least a handful to be there and interested in our Bachelor, while the rest are usually there for the experience or to somehow find a way to promote themselves. We generally don't want those types in there or don't approve of having them there because we want the most amount of chances for our Bachelor to find the right person, but at the same time we make sure at least one or two do for the sake of the show and drama.

"It's fine if you want to come on for the experience. Some of the women eventually realize they genuinely like our Bachelor and fall in love, while there are those who realize they have nothing in common and have no chemistry with him, and either stay on until they are kicked off or make the choice to leave themselves once they realize that."

Ash raised her eyebrows. "Huh…Do you guys really assign roles to the women?"

Wesley swirled his coffee and frowned. "We don't generally talk about it, but for a certain few of the women, we assign archetypes. We find a trait in them and magnify it through the show, so if you end up being vain or judgmental in some way, we do end up focusing in on that and casting a more villainous role."

Ash tapped her fingers nervously on the table. "Do _I_ have a role?"

He smirked a little. "Now why would I reveal that, if you do?"

She tried hard not to pout, but she probably failed.

"Anyway, our show tends to shoot for 7 weeks, a little longer than normal to shoot a regular reality show. It's because we try to foster and develop real feelings and emotions and relationships in that time, so we isolate the cast and the environment becomes more intensified and the situation becomes more charged than usual. It's why we have the contestants go through a comprehensive psychological exam before casting them –we have to make sure, along with being sure they're mentally capable, that they can withstand the atmosphere and being isolated and cut off from the outside world for that long, as well as standing up to the sudden celebrity status and instant fame."

"W-wait, cut off from the outside world? And being isolated?" Ash had to backtrack and laser in on that.

"For 7 weeks, we usually keep the contestants isolated within the Bachelor Mansion. They're not really allowed to go out. They're also not allowed any cell phones, books, TV, etc. unless we require them to talk to someone on the phone on film or something."

"What about pokémon?" she asked in a panic, and that's when Pikachu made his appearance, popping his head over the table with a disgruntled look on his face.

"Pika!"

Wesley was a bit startled, but composed himself quickly. "We don't allow pokémon either, sorry. If you make it to Hometown Dates though, he can certainly make an appearance and star a bit." He grinned a little at Pikachu, who looked slightly pacified and contemplating it. Ash was still unsure about that stipulation, given she'd always had Pikachu come with her somewhere.

"So, just to let you know, all the women have to buy all of their own dresses for the show –the network just provides dresses for the two finalists to wear during the finale. The same goes for the professional styling –we do that for the contestants during only the first night and for the finale. On the rest of the nights, they do their own hair and makeup. That means if you don't know how, it's probably best you learn before coming to the Bachelor Mansion in a week."

This sounded crazy. Instead of regular dating, this whole thing sounded like they jump up the intensity and speed with the process, especially because of the extreme dating and isolation.

"It can be emotionally taxing," Wesley admitted. "People don't always get or realize how fast emotions get involve. And that's the thing about the show –if you're not willing to be vulnerable and to discuss every event and share every emotion, to him and even to the camera –despite the cameras –there's really no point in being there. So remember that once you're on the show, alright? The key point is vulnerability."

Vulnerable? Ash was an emotional person and shared her emotions easily, yeah, but vulnerable? She couldn't remember if she'd ever been really vulnerable before, and wasn't sure she could now, especially to some stranger. The Bachelor wasn't likely to make her just bare all in seven weeks.

"I also wanted to make sure you're okay with the fact that he's 37 and much older than you," Wesley gave her a questioning look.

She blinked. "Really? Huh. Well, like I told my mom, age difference doesn't bother me."

Wesley clapped his hands. "Fantastic! So in a few days, head to Viridian Fall again. You and the other women will have to be stuck in the hotel and your rooms until shooting begins. Once in the mansion and after passing the first night, you'll be moved in and your phone and all will be taken away for safe keeping. From then on though, you'll be stuck in the house and the surrounding property."

Ash huffed. "Who says I'll even go passed the first night?"

He smiled widely at her. "Let's just say I've got a gut feeling."

Raising her eyebrows, she didn't get an answer to that.

* * *

When it was time to start shooting, Ash was relieved to be out of that hotel room. She had started to feel slightly claustrophobic, which was understandable. From the moment she'd arrived at the hotel, she'd been put into a room and was stuck in it for days, unable to go outside of it for any reason. She had plenty of room service at least, and she was allowed to watch some TV, which was something. She hadn't been out of that hotel room since they had made her shoot her introduction video for the show.

But then there was now the fact she had to get ready and had chosen one of the fancier dresses she'd brought along to wear for the first night. Two of the professional stylists had come in earlier and helped her, and she tried to remember how and why the makeup artist and the hairstylist did so and so to her face and hair, and asked plenty of questions so that she could try to replicate it in some form later on.

At least, when she'd complained about her troubles to Serena and Aria before returning to the hotel, Serena had gone on and on about makeup tips, while Aria somehow managed to expedite a shipment of warm and cool casual clothes to her, while Valerie (somehow or other, the Kalos gym leader had caught wind of all this going on) sent over a load of dresses for her to wear. She'd gotten off lucky with that, considering she saw how pretty and fancy the dresses they had to wear on the rose ceremonies looked like, and she doubted she had any money to cover even one dress for them, much less a variety of them and regular clothes.

But now she was being put into a limo and was sitting nervously in it. Soon enough, other women began to pile into the limo as well and they all looked at each other awkwardly.

"Hello," Ash waved, putting on a smile. Well, hell, if this was how it was going to be in the house, there was no way she could survive the stiff silences.

A chorus of hello's, hi's, and hey's greeted her back, and everyone began to introduce themselves.

"I've seen you before, haven't I?" the one she remembered being named Rue asked her, looking thoughtful.

Ash was surprised. "Really? I don't think I would be known anywhere. I mean I've competed in a bunch of Pokémon tournaments through the regions, but that's nothing special –"

"Oh! You're _that_ Ash," Meghan, one of the other women in the limo, exclaimed brightly. "My brother loves you. He personally saw you compete in the Sinnoh Tournment and thought you should've won."

Ash blushed slightly. "Really? Ah, well, I ended up losing though. My competitor had stronger pokémon."

Meghan huffed. "Only because he had two legendaries on him…both of which you managed to defeat before you lost!"

Ash gave a rueful smile. "Well, it was a good match at least."

Still, it gave the others a thoughtful mood, and half were either giving her either considering or impressed looks, while the other half were looking at her jealousy.

The ride on the limo continued on until it stopped and one of the producers and a cameraman came into the limo, seated in the back and giving them a friendly smile and thumbs up.

"Shooting starts, ladies! Get your game faces on. How about we start talking about our lucky Bachelor, huh?"

"Oh, he's so handsome," one of the ladies giggled, hiding her mouth. "I can't believe _he_ gets to be the Bachelor this season!"

"I know, right?" Meghan chimed in. "I thought it was going to be Derrick or at least Chad, since they were in the bottom four of the last season of the Bachelorette and really popular, and they usually start filming straight after. Announcing him all of a sudden! No wonder it took so long to announce the new Bachelor and why they didn't at the 'After the Rose' special!"

Ash just kept smiling, nodding along. To be honest, she didn't even know who the Bachelor was, which was a huge oversight on her part. She hadn't really thought to prepare herself or look anything up.

"Okay ladies. This is the order you're going to be exiting the limo once it stops. We're the last limo, so make sure you guys are ready. If you have prepared lines you want to deliver, say a joke, or whatever –go for it! Don't be shy, try to stand out, do your best to catch his attention, alright? Don't be afraid to get out there," the producer gave them a reassuring look. Then he began telling them who goes out first and Ash was unnerved to find she was the last one out.

She sat stiffly at her seat, waiting her turn as the women exited out and had their small bit of introduction to the Bachelor (whoever it was), and then it was her turn.

"Hey," the producer stopped her. "I'm Zachary. Just wanted to let you know –usually the first and last person out of the limo are important. Traditionally, the production set up the order so that the first and last contestants out of the limo are who we think have the best shot with the Bachelor or Bachelorette. So…you're being rooted for, alright? We want the Bachelor's first and last impressions to count, so make that impression big, sweetie."

That made Ash swallow nervously and she faced the door. She took a deep breath before exiting out of it, starting to walk out. Then she lifted her head about halfway and her mouth dropped.

She stumbled and fell flat on her face as she saw that the Bachelor was none other than Giovanni Rocketto, boss of Team Rocket.

Started 7/22/16 – Completed 7/25/16


	3. First Impressions

"Okay, ladies and gentlemen," Wesley looked at the rest of the production team. "In half an hour, they are going to start bringing the limos around to the front of the mansion. What we need to do is pick and choose which one of these ladies come out in what order. We'll decide on who is first and last right now, so that the others just fall into place."

Lisa held up a photo of a gorgeous red head. "Janelle Torrence should be first. She's his physical type –Giovanni's said he tended to lean towards red heads. She's also younger than him, but not too much, so there's a good middle ground with them. She's around his age, but still young enough to be pretty on his arm. I think they'd fit well together and I'd bet more than anything that she'd end up in the final 2."

There were a few others who tossed in their suggestions, but in the end Janelle was decided on. Wesley held up his pick.

"I want her as last," he said firmly, holding up Ash's picture. "I stick by the fact that I think she and Giovanni are a good match and she'll make it to the final 2 even."

"You think they'll end up together?" Roger raised an eyebrow.

Wesley frowned. "I think, at least by that time, the age thing might finally become an issue and everyone will be hesitant to move forward to the next step. He might start having second thoughts and end up choosing the other woman, whoever she is. Personally, and the Casting Director and his panel agrees, Ash will probably be the heartbroken sweetheart and end up being the next Bachelorette."

There were surprised murmuring at that. Zachary stepped further into view.

"No kidding, eh? Huh. She is definitely pretty and I looked her up more and passed the background results that were given. I'm sure the ones in charge of that managed to find out everything, but they left a lot out, like the interesting stuff. I can see more of her appeal now, and I think that she could even really make a good Bachelorette."

"So it's settled then?" Wesley made sure. "She's going to be the last one of the girls?"

"Alright, she goes last," Zachary agreed for the rest.

* * *

Ash felt his hands touch her and try to help her up, and didn't know what to say or do. They were being filmed too, and she knew her reaction had been shot.

Why in the world was Giovanni here though?! And Arceus knew how they managed to convince _him_ to do this. What was he doing here anyway? What would he benefit from starring in this show?

"Careful now," he said, voice obviously amused. "You might hurt yourself. Well…considering that fall…"

Ash took a deep breath and stood up with his help, reluctantly accepting it from him. "T-thank you," she thanked him, trying to keep her voice steady.

' _You're on TV, you're on TV, you're on TV,'_ she chanted in her head. At least it wasn't live, and hopefully they'd edit that out.

"Um…you're the Bachelor," Ash stated blandly.

Giovanni smirked. "I am. Didn't you know that?"

"…Honestly? No," Ash winced. "My name was submitted into this. Then I decided to go for it and just try it out." But she wasn't going to talk about him being there and who he actually was, not in front of the camera. She had to keep going and act like nothing was wrong. "I didn't know you would be the Bachelor until I apparently came out of that limo and fell flat on my face at seeing you," she said self-deprecatingly.

"I should be flattered at such a strong reaction," Giovanni teased, and it was kind of strange and Ash truthfully wasn't sure how to handle it (but she damn well was going to keep trying like she could).

She shrugged. "Well, I never got to meet you during my Kanto journey, even though I really wanted to. So…hey! I guess I've got another opportunity," she laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of her head, mentally a little weirded out that she was actually somewhat sincere. But then again, that would have been true back then, back before she'd found out he was the boss of Team Rocket. She remembered bemoaning the fact that she'd missed out on battling against Giovanni for the Earth Badge to Brock and Misty, instead having to face off against Jessie and agitated at that and the fact they'd dared take over the gym of her favorite pokémon trainer. "Maybe it's fate," she teased back.

He chuckled. "Could be. I guess I don't have to introduce myself."

She mocked-curtsied. "Ash Ketchum, at your service. I guess I should head in?"

"You're the last one. Mind if I escort you in?" he asked charmingly, and she could understand how he made a good choice for the Bachelor.

"Not at all."

He held up his arm and she briefly hesitated, slipping hers around his finally.

"You look lovely," he complimented her as they began to walk.

"Thank you," she thanked him again. "I would say the same, but I'm sure you know that. You know, what with the 20 something women that had just said it to you before I popped out of the limo."

He laughed fully and grinned at her. "You're quite the character, aren't you?"

"Depends," she took her arm from his and walked a few steps backwards, raising an eyebrow at him. "In any case, this is where I leave you, so we don't enter together and I end up with objects being lobbed at my head by jealous women. See you in a bit, Emperor of the Night!"

"Emperor of the Night?" he questioned as she walked away.

She turned slightly, but kept walking. "I highly doubt you're Prince Charming."

She left him then and he was left grinning at the unexpected development.

* * *

"So, don't be nervous," the substitute host, Topher Harris, told Giovanni with a reassuring grin.

"I'm not exactly nervous," Giovanni frowned. "Though unsure about juggling so many women."

"30 of them," Topher whistled in admiration. "There was a lot of women that wanted to be on your season. We managed to limit it to 30, but that's still a lot."

Giovanni raised his eyebrows at the number and finding out about the women wanting to be on his season. That was news. He hadn't exactly wanted or cared to be on the show, but it still threw him off to know that apparently he was sought after.

"I'm not sure I can remember all of those names in one night," Giovanni admitted. _Thirty_ women was a lot.

"Don't worry about it," Topher waved it off, still grinning. "You'll have one of the producers nearly constantly by your side to help you out, and will also have flashcards with the contestants' names and pictures on them. During the ceremony, you'll just be saying a few names at a time –once you say maybe at least 3 to 4-5ish, depending on how many you can remember, then you can leave the ceremony room and get the next few names, then come back to call those out. The first Rose Ceremony is always hard, so we'll probably break shooting up into 3 to 5 people at a time to make it easier on you."

"No microphone? Cue cards?" Giovanni questioned.

"Nah. We try to do this as natural as possible," Topher said honestly.

"Do I or even the women have any choice what gets put onto the air?" he asked, inwardly worried about this. If he needed to forcibly handle things…

Topher shook his head. "Standard for any reality show, really. Anyone who comes onto the show has to agree to allow the producers, as in the contract, to reveal information that 'may be embarrassing, unfavorable, humiliating, and/or derogatory and/or may portray him or her in a false light.'"

Giovanni wasn't too happy about the sounds of that.

"Hey, so things are about to start," one of the producers, Wesley Feller Giovanni believed his name was, came over.

"Yeah? How long do we have?"

"15 minutes. They started driving the first limo 15 minutes before that, so it's probably going to take each limo 30 minutes in total to get here," Wesley informed them.

"How's Chris doing? It sucks he got sick right before this season," Topher asked.

"Ah well…you know him. He's Chris Harrison. He's invincible. He'll bounce back soon enough," Wesley chuckled. "We all good here?"

"I think so," Topher answered hesitantly before they looked to Giovanni, who forced on a smile.

"Good, good," he lied smoothly. "Probably a little nervous after all," he lied even more.

"It'll be alright," Wesley went on to reassure him as well. "Just a warning though. Some of the girls had some strange entrances planned –most of the production either encouraged and cheered them on to do them, while some others in production tried to prod and suggest some stuff to other contestants. You'll be getting more than a handful of strange gimmicked entrances to greet you."

Giovanni decided on a rueful smile. "Ah well. It'll make for good TV, right?"

"Correct," Wesley said succinctly. "Now show time, you two. Camera's on in 3…2…1!"

He moved out of the way and Topher began the introduction, and then Giovanni and he casually bantered. Topher wished him luck and left him to deal with the first batch of women, and then soon enough the first limo pulled in.

Giovanni dealt with it as casually and relaxed as he could, charming the women that came one after the other, limo after limo, and he was actually finding quite a few of the women attractive and interesting enough to hold his attention. Of course there were the ones with the gimmick entrances, most of which made him inwardly cringe, but a few actually amused him enough or were actually quite good.

Then came the last limo, which he was very thankful for. He was getting exhausted, and he hadn't even gone through the first cocktail party. Hell, the Rose Ceremony was a long time away too, and he'd heard that those take forever to shoot.

He made himself pull through the last group of women, taking care to remember that one named Rue and that other one named Meghan. Then it was the last woman to come out, and he waited as patiently as he could, already dying to just get inside and gulp down a glass of brandy or something.

She came out with her head down, walking rather stiffly. Her short hair covered her face since she was looking determined down at the floor. Halfway to him though, she finally looked up and he blinked in surprise to see none other than Ash Ketchum, bane of his Team, and who looked equally surprised (though he was sure his was more covered up) to see him.

Then she promptly tripped and fell flat on her face.

He had to promptly choke back a laugh as he quickly strode over to her and then helped her up. He hadn't expected this development at all, but it was definitely a pleasing twist, he decided. And oh, what glorious back and forth banter they exchanged, strangely absent of any animosity that was expected and managing to be entertaining and witty. And she was hilarious, something he managed to appreciate now, since they weren't on opposite ends of a battlefield.

He was delighted and amused with the nickname she'd bestowed upon him, and definitely enjoyed "Emperor of the Night" over "Prince Charming" anyway. He was just disappointed, again rather strange, at having to separate from her.

As he was getting ready to join the others finally, Wesley stopped by his side for a second time.

"Again, don't be nervous or worry too much. You'll always have one of us around, okay?" Wesley clapped a supportive hand on his shoulder. "Try to stay open-minded, yeah? You'll do yourself a great disservice if you just end up picking your final four the first night."

"I see," Giovanni muttered. "I'll keep that in mind," he said a little louder.

Then he stepped into the room and was greeted with thirty excited women.

Started 7/26/16 – Completed 7/27/16


	4. The First Cocktail Party

He nearly balked because he hadn't thought that he would ever see such a large group of ravenous women, some of which were scarily looking like they were willing to devour him. Usually, as the boss of Team Rocket, he wasn't scared of anything or fazed by much…but this was just ridiculous.

"Ladies! Welcome, Giovanni, and welcome to the mansion, everyone," Topher continued on with his welcoming speech, but Giovanni was discreetly scanning the women. Of course, he managed to idly see a few of the ones that he specifically recalled and was memorable to him, but there was the one particular young woman –

There she was. Ash Ketchum was sort of fidgeting in the back, looking uncertain and ready to bolt. He mentally frowned. Now that won't do. He truthfully wanted her to be there; if he was going to have to suffer through this show, someone familiar and almost kindred going in with him would be a relief, even if it was her.

There was also the fact that he had been surprised to find how much he'd enjoyed her company, in the brief time they spent together without having to be in a middle of some conflict. The last time they'd come face to face, she had been very furious at him over Meloetta and the whole trying to take over Unova and all. But the facts were that he had unexpectedly had a more than civil (even flirty) conversation with her, and he had genuinely enjoyed himself and being around her.

His thoughts had distracted himself thoroughly enough that he almost missed his cue when Topher ended his speech and then just handed the attention over to him. He let a smile grow on his lips, deciding it was time to turn on the charm.

And then his night began and it wasn't like anything he expected or thought would be like. At times, it was a little dreary and he felt half bored, though he did his best to listen to the current woman he was with (it might've been something important or useful later on –and well, he was used to doing things like that; how else did he get blackmail after all?) Then there were other times where he was actually engaged and didn't mind the talk, and a few of them he even felt interested in. There were even a few he felt attracted to, and decided then that those were definite picks.

But he had yet to find Ash anywhere.

"This girl's up," Zachary, apparently one of the producers, quickly held up a flashcard with a picture and name on it since said woman in question was coming over.

"Leigh Hart," he mumbled, glancing at the card. Well, at least he didn't have to search around for help identifying a girl this time, since most of the other times he had to discreetly find one of them and they'd hold it up for him.

Most of the time, one of them was around to tell him who it was he was talking to, but in the case they weren't, he had to look around for one of them and hope they had flashcards to help him out. Aside from those things being useful tools to get him to start memorizing names and faces, they were useful "cheat sheets."

Before Leigh could close in on him, he turned to Zachary at the same time that Wesley came over.

"Have you seen Ash Ketchum around?" he asked bluntly and both producers stared at him in shock.

"No, I haven't," Zachary admitted, while Wesley blinked slowly and replied, "Um, I think I saw her around the front of the mansion, sitting by the fountain."

Giovanni frowned, glancing at Leigh, who was waiting by the side while he finished up with the producers. He gave a quick glance to where the entrance was and sighed, but walked a little closer to Leigh.

"Hi, um, can I talk to you for a bit?" she asked, smiling widely and blushing a little.

Giovanni put on a smile. "Of course."

When he went off with her, the two producers kind of stood there, still surprised and a little shocked.

"He…he remembered her name. Right off the bat and he hasn't even seen her a second time or had a talk with her," Zachary blinked.

Wesley grinned smugly. "I told you he would connect with her the most." His grin faltered though. "I guess I didn't expect just how much he'd be interested in her or would immediately be drawn to her just yet."

"I underestimated your pick," Zachary shook his head. "I mean, I was on board with her after I went looking her up, since you first brought her up and was adamant about her inclusion in the show, but this…"

Wesley hummed in thought. "That definitely makes her Bachelorette material, right?"

Zachary nodded. "Oh no, I knew that already. I kind of wish I could sign up!" He laughed a little.

Wesley shook his head, but he did glance at the entrance, thinking about the girl that he'd seen looking like she might run away at any second.

Ah well, she'd signed on and he'd already noted security to the flight risk.

* * *

Giovanni finally made it out of the mansion and looked around. Thankfully, it didn't take him long to find the young woman he'd been looking for, and he found her sitting on the water fountain and using her hands to weigh something.

She didn't exactly _have_ anything in her hands though.

"It's a little cold out here, isn't it?" he spoke up and she jumped up, looking startled to find him there in front of her. He smirked. "I don't bite," he held up his hands.

"You sure about that?" she blurted that out, though thankfully it was absent of any mistrust or wariness. He was sure this was being filmed after all, and there was no need to get anyone suspicious, even those around them right now.

The cameras came out a little more in view and he could see she was struggling not to stare at them or panic too much. He walked closer, still smirking, and took a seat next to where she had been seated moments before.

"Are you okay?" He dropped any charm, any acting (she'd probably react negatively to it anyway), and waited patiently for her.

Ash sat down again, unable to help herself by glancing at the cameras.

"Getting used to this," she confessed. "And getting used to the fact I kind of stumbled into this blindly. And not just literally," her eye twitched. "I guess it doesn't help that my childhood idol is apparently the Bachelor."

Giovanni found himself grinning. "Did you have a _crush_ on me?" he teased and he was amused by the squawk she let out and the adorable blush that covered her cheeks.

"No!" she denied. But then she looked embarrassed. "Maybe a little."

Giovanni laughed lightly. "I'm flattered and rather lucky then."

She got a little more comfortable, taking advantage of the loose skirt of her gorgeous red dress (he completely approved of the color) to bring her legs up and sit cross-legged.

"You're not weirded out or nothing?" she asked curiously.

"A bit," he actually said truthfully. "This isn't really something normal and definitely not something I would normally do. You can't really prepare for it or know what to expect."

She frowned. "I don't really know if I'm cut out for this. I told my mother I'd try it out and all, but it's so strange and I admit I've been skeptical from the start. I don't think I should be here or that it'll be for me."

Giovanni straightened up, almost even panicking, which was definitely not like himself.

"What if _I_ want you around?" he asked suddenly, catching her off guard. Her eyes widened as she stared at him. He hesitated, but pushed through. "I would like it if you stayed around and be part of this. Would you?"

Ash stared at him again. She looked uncertain, but replied calmly. "I'm not sure," she told him honestly. "I'll think about it."

It wasn't quite the answer he wanted, but it was good enough…for now.

"Alright," he agreed. "I'll give you as much time as I can. As you need."

Her lips quirked up slightly and he liked the look on her face.

"You know, it drove me crazy when I missed you when I came to Viridian for a badge four years ago," she laughed and shook her head. "I swear to Arceus, I ranted to my friends about it for like forever after I ended up having to face someone else for the badge. Hmm…I still do actually," she ended thoughtfully.

"So sorry to inconvenience you," he grinned, almost bleeding smugness and mocking that wasn't malicious.

"Yes, All Mighty Businessman," she rolled her eyes. "I'm sure you were busy getting rich while I was dorkily sobbing my heart out at missing a pokémon battle with you."

"Aw, poor baby," he teased. "And I'll try to drive myself poor to the ground, if that makes you so happy."

She snickered. "Sure, go for it. We can be broke bums together, if you like? We can find a tent and sleep in a forest, and I'll have pictures of my mom while you can hoard what little money you have left."

He burst out laughing at that. "I'm sorry, but if you're hoping I have some sort of circle of family members that can turn into animals, you're mistaken."

She gave him an ecstatic look. "No way! You've seen _Fruit Baskets_?"

He sighed in exasperation. "I have an employee that is…more or less an otaku."

Ash giggled. "Well, we can still be broke bums together. And a tent in a forest isn't such a crazy thing –now that I think about it, that was basically my sleeping setup all throughout my pokémon journey..."

"Speaking of, I'm curious –which was your starter pokémon? I heard from my colleagues, who are extraordinarily fond of talking about you, that you had all three starters in your set, which surprised me because that doesn't really happen."

She coughed and blushed for some reason. "Um, that's a funny story actually…"

Giovanni raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Well…I was overexcited the night before I started my pokémon journey and ended up staying up all night. Sometime before it was time to wake up, I somehow ended up waking briefly, threw my alarm clock at the wall, thinking it was a pokéball, fell back asleep, and then ended up oversleeping. I ran to the Professor's Lab in my pajamas the next morning, and then I was horrified to find out I missed out on _all of the starters_."

He looked at her in surprise. "But how then did you manage to set out? Did you have to wait a day or something, while they got more starters?"

"Oh no," she shrugged. "Actually, he had another pokémon in the back that he was saving and who was a little bit of a troublemaker for them. That's how I met my partner Pikachu! Ever since, we've been practically together. He's gone with me to every region I've been to so far, and he's practically my best friend."

Ah, so that's how those two met and became stuck together. It was unusual and almost sounded fated.

"How did you end up with the starters then?" he asked, becoming more curious the more she talked.

"Those are actually some strange sort of stories too," Ash furrowed her eyebrows. And then she told him how met her Charizard (Charmander back then), her Squirtle, and her Bulbasaur and where those three were now.

It was kind of amazing and crazy. This girl really did end up in some strange and lucky (and unlucky) situations.

"What about you? What was your starter?" she asked, sounding as curious as he was.

"I had a Charmander," he answered her after a moment. "I eventually managed to evolve him into a Charizard like yourself, though I named him Maximus."

They talked a little more about pokémon, eventually ending up on his Persian, who he told her how he'd met him and that he'd rescued him and took him in. By that time though, they'd been found by one of the producers.

"There you two are," Wesley blinked, seeing the two together.

Giovanni withheld his sigh. "I've been gone too long?"

"A bit," Wesley said apologetically. "But not too long. It's just edging there. I think you've spent almost a little over 10 minutes out here…But I wasn't looking for you. Actually, I came out here to look for her and make sure she hadn't run away," he sent a teasing grin to her and she looked sheepish. It made Giovanni frown briefly. "I also wanted to get you inside, Ash. You can't hide out here forever, and you'll need to get inside and mingle a bit. Wine?" he offered a glass to her.

Ash accepted it hesitantly, while glancing at the two of them.

"Alright, in I go," she laughed lightly. "Goodnight, Emperor of the Night. See you inside."

"I'll escort you in," Wesley said.

Then Giovanni was left there feeling like he just wanted to drag her back there and make her just stay with him for the rest of the night.

Started 7/30/16 – Completed 8/1/16


	5. The First Rose Ceremony

Wesley hmmed, concentrating as he reviewed the footage, clicking at the keyboard and watching intently, rewinding several times.

"So we'll start filming the Rose Ceremony in a bit. We managed to do a rough edit of the footage we have so far, and got interviews for everyone except Giovanni and Ash," Roger said aloud.

"We can get them after we film the Rose Ceremony," Lisa said. "I _am_ curious about you having notified security about your girl being a flight risk, Wesley."

Everyone tuned in then, but gossip was always an area of attraction so that wasn't surprising.

Wesley shrugged. "She's skittish about the show –wary about the cameras and being filmed, and not sure about the journey. Still, I wouldn't worry about that anymore."

"Oh? Why not?" Lisa asked, really curious now. But so were the others.

Zachary cut in. "Did Giovanni go looking for her?" he eagerly asked, making everyone whisper and be surprised.

Wesley smirked briefly. "Soon as he was done talking to Leigh Hunt, he slipped outside to find her. That period of time where we were all looking for him and wondering where he was? He spent that entire time outside the mansion, talking to her as they sat on the fountain."

Lisa's eyes widened. "You're kidding."

"I'm not," Wesley smirked again, smugly crossing his arms. "And I _saw_ the unedited footage of their conversation. You guys didn't get to see it all yet –it was too long, especially for the show and fitting in everything else, but before they cut up the original footage, I went and watched that scene since I was the one that ended up finding them and interrupting their talk and was curious about it."

He took a dramatic pause before his smirk widened. "He purposely and directly asked her to stay on the show for him, after she flat out told him how she felt being on the show. I don't know if she'll stay, but I'm sure that she won't run away in a panic before the Rose Ceremony. We'll just have to wait and see if she accepts Giovanni's rose."

Zachary chuckled. "You really were spot on with the girl. Hell, I'm still stuck on the fact he remembered her entire name straight off the bat, without needing a reminder from any of us. He'd asked specifically for her, trying to find her."

Lisa shook her head. "That's amazing. I'm still sure on Janelle –and we've got to remind George to set up this season's betting pool –but Ash is definitely going to be a contender. I think you're right about her being this season's 'heartbroken sweetheart.' She's definitely pretty and she's got adorable down pat –she'll absolutely be a favorite. Plus, she's a Trainer. That's a whole demographic pool we can draw in this season, along with those Trainers watching for Giovanni, and I'll bet the ratings will climb.

"She'd definitely be a top contender, if not the only contender, to be our next Bachelorette," she concluded. "And along with new fans of hers from this Bachelor's season, I can bet you that Trainer demographic will pour in for her season."

"I think we should keep in that scene," Roger suggested. "You know, the part where he asked her to stay on for him. I think it's definitely an important scene and essential to their relationship that'll be shone to the audience."

"I'll make a note to the editors," Wesley said. He was going to speak more when he was interrupted by a knock on their door. Everyone traded looks before Zachary went over to the door and opened it, revealing Giovanni.

"I was wondering if it would be alright to hand out the First Impression Rose now?" he asked smoothly.

"Oh! Yeah, sure. You could do that at any time –there's no need to consult us about that," Lisa smiled widely, blushing a bit. Wesley kept in his snort, but he could admit that Giovanni was definitely a handsome and charming guy, so he could see what his colleague and the other women saw in him.

Giovanni nodded, but hesitated.

"…Unless you wanted advice?" Wesley hazarded a guess.

"I wanted to give the First Impression Rose to someone, but I know that they're still not sure about their place here," he said slowly, but everyone already clearly knew who he was talking about, having just talked about her and that little scene. "Should I wait to hand it out and ask a little later, or simply hand out that rose to someone else and wait until the Rose Ceremony for her answer?"

Wesley nearly balked. It was already obvious who he was talking about, but while he was pleased his pick was drawing so much attention from their Bachelor already, it was also somewhat of a dangerous path. They didn't want him to already pick someone from the beginning and not try to see about forming connections with the others and be open-minded. It was also becoming too obvious about his interest and bias, which could lead to it maybe being too clear on the show and everyone guessing about her. Never mind that stupid website that somehow kept leaking information from the show; it was just going to be causing somewhat of a problem if their Bachelor instantly chose someone from the get go, and they had no show if he didn't want to even try or look like he was forming anything with anyone else.

There was also the fact that they already decided, even though it was completely early on, that Ash Ketchum was the definite choice to be their Bachelorette, and she couldn't exactly be that if she and Giovanni got together at the end of this. Not to say that they wouldn't be happy and supportive –it was just their preferable choice that Ash got as far as possible, before being eliminated and therefore allowing them to snatch her up and have her become the Bachelorette.

"You should wait," Zachary offered up helpfully. "If she really is having trouble and needing time to think about being here, give her that time she needs. Probably even up to the Rose Ceremony, to give her as much time as possible."

"You should also consider the fact that giving out the First Impression Rose means that whoever receives it usually ends up with a target on their back and everyone's ire and jealousy aimed at them," Lisa added on. "So whoever you wanted to give it too will probably have to suffer that."

Giovanni sighed. "Very well. I'll hand it to someone else. I'll see you all when it's time for the Rose Ceremony then."

He left them and there was a moment of silence in the room.

"Ideally, we would like it to end with a possible opportunity to have Ash Ketchum as our Bachelorette, but if they do end up together, that's still a good thing. We want that fairytale romance, guys. So hopefully, this season will end up with another couple that hopefully stays together," Wesley told everyone. He clapped his hands. "Let's get to work!"

Still, while he would be pleased that his girl ended up with their Bachelor, Wesley admitted that a part of him was hoping this wouldn't be the case.

* * *

Giovanni had ended up handing the rose to Rue, who he did actually enjoy talking to. Maybe not as much as he had Ash, but Rue had still been entertaining and had a great sense of humor that managed to pull some genuine laughs out of him.

Then it was time for the Rose Ceremony and he was pulled aside and put into a room where he was with a few of the producers.

"Alright, so we'll go over with you who you want to stay in and then we'll decide on the order that their names are called out. We'll probably do a few at a time so you don't get overwhelmed and we can refresh you on names too," Wesley told him.

Agreeing, Giovanni took a look at the spread out flashcards on the table and looked through them. He immediately saw Ash's and picked hers and placed it aside in the definite pile, missing the look the producers gave each other. He then began thinking hard over the rest of the women and picked the ones he liked best and had enjoyed being around.

"That's short 4," Zachary noted. "Later on, it'll be fine to cut down the numbers so you can have only the ones you really want here, but as the first night, we try to keep the number more or less that same grouping. Do you mind if we pick the last 4?"

Giovanni shrugged and waved towards the pile of pictures and names. "Go ahead."

The producers discussed it quickly before picking out four pretty, likable girls that they felt would be able to have some good screen time and show up good on TV before they were probably inevitably cut out. Who knows though? Maybe one of them might change Giovanni's mind and he'd decide he had ended up liking them more than he thought he would…

Wesley glanced at Ash's photo though and thought that might be a long shot.

Giovanni was also inclined to think so, though he didn't voice it vocally. Those girls they picked were definitely pretty, but he couldn't find himself the least bit interested.

"Let's have you call out Janelle and Meghan's names as some of the first ones," Roger picked out. "Based on the footage, they're clearly some of the more obvious picks of yours."

"Tara and Keira too," Lisa said after him. "We could put some of the less obvious and our last picks in between to spread them out."

"Ash should be last," Wesley said then, which made Giovanni straighten up.

"Why? I'd like her to be earlier than that," he frowned at them.

"She's the one who's been skittish and needing more time to think about being on the show, right?" Lisa asked, seeing where Wesley was going with this. At Giovanni's hesitant nod, she continued. "Being last not only gives her the time needed to think about her decision, but being played out on the show will create the drama and tension for the audience, and make them wonder 'will she or won't she accept your rose?'"

Giovanni grudgingly accepted their choice, even if he would have preferably had given Ash the first rose from the beginning. If he could have, he would have given her the First Impression Rose while he was at it. But, given the explanations, he knew he had to give her more time to think about staying on the show than that and he really hadn't wanted her to be picked on because he'd picked her out from everyone else and everyone else became jealous and threatened by her.

"So we're decided on order?" Zachary asked.

"Yeah, looks good to me," Wesley looked over their list with a critical eye. "Are you good to go on this, Giovanni?"

He nodded and gave his agreement, and then they walked out to start filming the Rose Ceremony. They met up with Topher, told him the order of the girls, and then they gathered into the Rose Ceremony room, where Giovanni and Topher separated from the producers and moved to the front of the room, where they stood beside the table that held the roses. At the signal that said they were going to start filming, Topher started speaking to the ladies.

While he talked to them, Giovanni immediately looked for Ash, seeing her to the side, at the bottom row and wearing a troubled look on her face. It made him anxious and he was surprised by how he felt with this whole situation, especially surrounding her.

When Topher passed the attention over to him, he remembered who he was supposed to call out first and took the first rose, calling out the first name.

"Janelle." He watched the beautiful red head he'd talked to earlier glide over to him gracefully, smiling widely. Her blue eyes were bright as she stood in front of him, and he returned the smile (despite the urge to look at Ash and wonder what was going on in her head).

"Will you accept this rose?"

"I'd love to," Janelle answered him breathily, the appealing and form-fitting golden dress sparkling on her.

He handed her the rose and kissed her cheek, before letting her go back and moving on, continuing with the next woman. After around four women, they stopped briefly and he went out to get the next few names of the women, and then the process repeated. It was almost tedious and he managed to pull through until it was finally Ash's turn and he tensed up. His anxiety came back full force, and he found his reaction and his turbulent feelings rather alien to him.

He usually never found himself feeling this way.

He took a deep breath before calling out her name. "Ash."

Giovanni watched her closely, seeing her hesitate before coming forward and coming face to face with him. He hid his twitch, trying not to show his unusual anxiety as he held out his rose to her.

"Will you accept this rose?"

If he was holding his breath for her answer, he wasn't going to let anyone know it. Her eyebrows furrowed, making his worry mount as he waited. But then she gave him a beatific smile that actually made his heart (what the fuck was that?) and accepted the rose from him.

"Thank you, I'd love to accept this from you."

And when he leaned over and kissed her cheek, he tried to not make it obvious as he lingered a bit.

Started 8/14/16 – Completed 8/14/16


	6. The First Interviews

Ash felt dazed as the women who were left and hadn't had their names called said their goodbyes and were gone soon enough. She couldn't believe she was still here. After everything, she hadn't just up and left the place.

She'd been so determined from the beginning, to hope that she wouldn't get on here, and her first chance to bail and she didn't. Why? Because _Giovanni_ asked her to stay and she found herself considering it and thinking about him.

He was the leader of _Team Rocket_. She had faced off against him and his Team countless times. And yet, she was still here because he'd asked her.

To be honest though, she had actually enjoyed his company. Outside of fighting against him and his admittedly megalomaniac tendencies (actually, more often than not, he was more concerned with profit and making the Team profit than drastically changing the world for some reason or other…), Ash had found that in this setting and without any hostile factors, the two of them had gotten along and had managed to talk civilly. If she wanted to be a little more honest, then she could even admit that they had been more than civil. She had had a friendly conversation with him and it had been a little romantic even.

Ugh, what was she saying?

She scrunched her nose a little, trying to pay attention to the ending of the Rose Ceremony and her eyes traveled to watch Giovanni. He was smiling charmingly, but there were edges around his mouth that said he was tired and his eyes matched and said that he was even getting to be a bit bored. Her lips twitched. The poor bastard –but it was his fault since he was the one who'd gotten himself onto the show. If he was going to be pushing through with this, he had better get used to the long hours and tedious work involved (which included mind-numbing talk from some of the women or him just being bored in general as he probably didn't connect with anyone).

After the toast and everything, they were allowed to mingle with Giovanni for a bit before they were going to be ushered off to bed and officially move in when they woke up. However, just as she was hesitating and debating with herself on approaching Giovanni, one of the producers approached her.

"Hi, I'm Lisa," she introduced herself. "We weren't quite able to get you into the interview room earlier, so before you join the others for bed, could you come with me and do a quick view of some of your footage tonight and then be interviewed about some of the scenes?"

Ash blinked, having forgotten about that aspect and vaguely remembering some of the others doing something like this earlier.

"Er, yeah, okay," she smiled awkwardly and after a quick glance at Giovanni (surrounded by beautiful women), she followed Lisa away and was shown into a seat in front of a camera.

"Hey, Ash," she saw a familiar face and she waved nervously at Wesley. "So, unlike the others, we haven't been able to get you in to be interviewed for any of the scenes, so bear with us on going through tonight's stuff, alright? Usually, and what you'll be more acquainted with, we have the ladies come in after a 'scene' and look over it and then get interviewed, while our lead is filming and having time with someone else."

"Okay," she mumbled.

"We'll start with the limo scene," Lisa said from her spot behind the cameraman, and Ash leaned into Wesley's arm as he held onto the tablet that was going to replay her scenes. When she saw it, she winced and scrunched up her nose.

"That's so embarrassing," she grumbled. "No way to cut it out?" she asked hopefully.

At their twin grins, she sighed and straightened up, facing the camera. She waited patiently for things to be ready and at their cue, started to talk.

"I…" She thought back to the limo scene again and buried her face into her hands. "Okay –not the smoothest limo entrance. Probably ever. But still! I didn't _know_ he was going to be the Bachelor! Ugh, that sounds even worse. Who comes onto a show, not knowing anything? Me apparently," Ash couldn't help the groan. "I swear I don't know if this is a dream come true or a nightmare. This show was weird enough as is, and my skepticism won't go away, but I've always wanted to meet him," she confessed.

Now that she was on a roll, she couldn't stop herself. Right now, she wished Pikachu was by her side to help shut her up. He always helped her stop when she was on a rant.

"He's my idol and," she bit her lip as she looked around discreetly, "celebrity crush." She was never, ever going to repeat that. She got enough teasing from Misty and Brock, who had first called 'it' that in the first place. "So seeing him as I got out of the limo was a pleasant surprise. Which I ended up embarrassing myself for," she shrugged. "But still…I don't know him as a person, so this will be an interesting situation and I hope I can actually just…get to know him. Even if it's not love, I'll be satisfied with that."

And she really would. Because she was really confused and curious about the other, who was different from the man she was used to and had come face to face with before. He was kind of likable, which surprised her in a good way.

"Ugh!" she burst out, clutching at her hair. "This is crazy! Am I crazy? Oh my Arceus, I must be going crazy. This whole thing is out of a movie scene or something. It's impossible! Oh wait…I'm on a TV show…They're basically similar…Does it count? Wait a sec, I'm still on camera," she turned to look at the camera, catching sight of the amused and grinning producers and camera crew and she shoved her face against her palms. "I'm doomed and I'm totally an embarrassment. Someone kill me now."

"And cut," Wesley said, chuckling. "You're going to be likable. And _relatable_. What girl out there doesn't know what you're going through?"

Ash snorted. "Oh yes, completely likable. I fell on my face on camera and it's going to eventually air. Yep."

"Like he said, totally likable and relatable," Lisa laughed, tacking on.

"So next scene," Wesley grabbed the tablet and brought it up. "Is this one."

Ash, still wearing a slight smile, leaned over to peer at the tablet, and froze as she watched that scene outside the mansion, where Giovanni had found her at the fountain and the two of them had ended up having a long and engaging talk with each other. Her smile had dropped and she hadn't even noticed that the cameras had begun to roll.

"That…" she started hesitantly. "I…"

What was she supposed to say about it? She didn't know what to say. The words, whatever they were, felt stuck in her throat and she didn't think she could get them out.

"And cut!" Wesley said again and Ash blinked, breaking out of her mess of thoughts to look at him in surprise.

"What? But I didn't even say anything," Ash winced.

Lisa waved a hand. "No, that was perfect."

"Your reaction was just fine," Wesley said gently.

"So next and last scene," Lisa prodded Wesley. "The Rose Ceremony."

"I got it right here," Wesley tapped at his tablet. "And…here you go."

Ash tiredly watched it, seeing woman after woman go by, and then it was her turn and she watched as Giovanni asked her to accept his rose and remembered how she felt then and before as she waited and watched everyone else. Then she remembered Giovanni asking her to stay at the fountain and she wiped a hand down her face before she looked up at the camera, which she noticed had already begun to roll again.

"I kept waiting and waiting," Ash blew out air. "My anxiety was already high up, and then as I waited, that anxiety that kept rocketing up until I'm pretty sure I was going to keel over."

She took a deep breath. "Giovanni called my name. I'm forcing my feet to walk towards him, to actually make myself move and not just stand there frozen in shock. The entire time before then, I was just a mess of nerves, confusion, and anxiousness, and I didn't know if I should be there and still don't, but he _asked_ me to stay so I at least owe it to him and myself to stick around and try this out."

Her lips moved up slightly. "He kissed my cheek. I mean, he did to the other women too, but I can't help thinking how soft and warm his lips were." Ash then let out a giggle that she was embarrassed at, and she ended up covering her quickly reddening face.

"I'm so screwed," she bemoaned.

She really was. What was going on with her? She was going crazy in that place, she just knew it.

"That's a wrap for today," Wesley told her warmly. "You can head back into the mansion and one of the assistants there should show you to where you'll be sleeping. Thanks a lot and goodnight, Ash."

She smiled weakly at everyone and then waved, before trekking back to the mansion in thoughtful silence.

"Ohhh, I love this," Lisa hmmed. "She's so photogenic and very easy and natural on the camera. She's definitely going to do well and I can't wait until she's the Bachelorette."

"Don't get ahead of ourselves," Wesley murmured. "Let's bring in Giovanni," he said a little louder.

They waited a few more minutes as one of the assistants went to get him, and soon enough the man came in. Wesley waved him over.

"Sorry we're keeping you late," Wesley said. "But we're almost done. We just need to get your 'reactions' to certain scenes and do the interview sections, then you can get to bed. You can spend all of tomorrow resting too, so don't worry about waking up early or anything."

"Sounds good," Giovanni nodded. "So what do I need to do?"

"We'll play some scenes of the women and you just react to them, though you'll have to act like it just happened or something."

Giovanni nodded again and they went through quite a few scenes, until finally they reached Ash and Giovanni grew a little more interested and paid more attention. Seeing her come out of the limo again had him grinning, more so when he saw her fall on her face. He couldn't help laughing.

"Oh, she's so freaking cute," he actually said, though he hadn't meant to. It was true though and he laughed a little more. "Definitely, definitely cute!"

"Cut! Nice, Giovanni. You seemed more energized then," Wesley grinned.

"Really?" Giovanni asked, having not really noticed. Then again, he wouldn't be surprised.

"Mmhm. Let's head onto the next one, alright? You were outside with her," Lisa put in.

Giovanni straightened up, eyes almost widening. He wasn't sure about revisiting that. It still seemed a strange and almost intimate moment. And watching the scene and realizing that they had edited and were using just the part where he was talking to her and asking her to stay after she told him how she felt about being there, he found himself somehow in a daze.

"I don't want her to leave," he found himself saying, and it was almost as if someone else was speaking. "I just…I just think I will regret it if I let her leave here now."

"I don't want her to leave," he continued, saying firmly. "She's funny and sweet, treats me like normal, and she's just…she's something. I'm giving her all the time she needs and wants, but all I want to do is _give her a rose already_. When it's time to give her a rose and I'm actually unsure for once in my life and I don't know if she's going to accept it or not, and my nerves feel like they're on fire and I want her to accept it already."

Then he was remembering her smile and that she finally accepted it, and he started muttering in Italian and let out a huge sigh.

"And we're done," Wesley said, bringing back Giovanni's attention to everyone and the occupied room, who he realized were all staring at him with wide eyes.

"I _do not_ know what you just said, but you definitely need to speak more Italian," Lisa giggled and then smirked. "That was freaking wonderful and the audience is going to love it. The whole spiel actually."

"That's it?" Giovanni asked numbly.

"We had the Rose Ceremony scene for Ash, but we can cut up what you just said and edit it into that spot. What you said at the end pretty much matches up and can be used in reaction for the Rose Ceremony," Wesley told him.

"Yeah, especially that last bit at the end in Italian and your reaction," Lisa commented. "What were you thinking of?"

"I was actually thinking of and saying something about her smile and how relieved I was that she actually took the rose," Giovanni admitted.

He looked in consternation at the floor, while the two producers and everyone else were trading looks.

Started 8/22/16 – Completed 1/13/17


	7. An Outside Encounter

When Ash woke up, having not really remembered getting to bed or falling asleep (she'd been dead tired after that night), she had the sense that it wasn't really morning anymore. In fact, as she drifted into the kitchen, where most of the women were, she realized it was practically brunch time.

"About time you woke up," Rue grinned, handing her a cup of tea. She gestured at Meghan. "Tea, not coffee, according to this one."

Meghan grinned wildly. "My brother has _such_ a huge crush on you and knows everything about you that he could from your Trainer Profile."

Ash sat down at the island counter dazedly, accepting the tea. "Does he? Wait, Trainer Profile?"

"Mmhm," Meghan nodded. "You didn't know you had one?"

Ash blinked. "No, I didn't."

One of the other women, a pretty blonde with green eyes named Harley, gave her an inquisitive look. "Why not?"

Ash shrugged. "I'm not…the most attentive to schematics trainer? All I focused on was going after badges and heading to the tournaments, and then heading to a new region when I heard of that. I was pretty one-tracked when I was younger, and still a bit now."

Rue chuckled. "I'm not a trainer –more of a lawyer actually –but I've got family who's completely into pokémon and know a lot. Supposedly, you get a temporary Trainer Profile once you register for a league, then after you compete, it's discarded after a month unless you register for the next one or another league. Depending on how many times you register for a league or how many leagues you enter into it, it becomes permanent. Considering you've been to every region and competed in every league consecutively, yours is pretty permanent."

Ash rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "I see. I didn't even know I had one, much less what's on it."

"But you've been to every region?" Georgina, another of the women and who had brown hair and eyes, asked curiously while coming closer.

Ash nodded, starting to get out ingredients for her late breakfast. She began regaling the women about all the regions, elaborating when a few of them asked her questions, comparing the regions occasionally and commenting on some of her favorite stuff to do or see in each place.

Ash had just finished making a large _omurice_ , some garlic scrambled eggs, and cut up and fried some potatoes that she seasoned liberally. By that time, a bunch of the women were already digging in and Ash was watching in amusement.

"I so did not eat any breakfast until you came along," Meghan said, munching on some of the eggs. "I swear I was just going to eventually toast some bread and put butter on them. Dear God, these are good. I don't care –you totally need to stay until near the end, just so you can feed us."

"I ate fruit salad," Rue admitted, enjoying the seasoned potatoes. "But this is way better."

Ash cut up her _omurice_ and moved the plate around to let the others have easier access. "I'll make even more next time," Ash's lips twitched up.

"You're well-travelled," a new woman spoke up, and Ash saw a beautiful redhead eying her closely. "Yet you're pretty young."

"Most trainers leave young," Ash shrugged, careful around her. Something seemed…cold about her. "I left Pallet Town around 16 and began traveling. I was away for around 4 or so years? I met a lot of people and went to a lot of places. After Alola, I finally went back home and decided to have either a break or to finally settle down."

"How old are you?" the redhead questioned.

"I just recently turned 21," Ash pursed her lips, staring back steadily.

Rue's eyebrows raised. "Really? That's so young! I mean, you look young too, but the way you talk and act, I could've sworn you were older, at least by a few more years."

"Well, like I said, I'm well-traveled and met a lot of people," Ash said softly. "I've managed to experience a lot already."

Which, if you exclude the whole crazy "save the world several times" business, was a lot, even if she was just twenty-one. Add in the whole "save the world" business, and hell yeah she felt older than she technically was! What would you expect?

On the other hand, Ash wasn't going to just blurt that all out. She didn't really care to brag about saving the world. She just had to do what had to be done, and that's that.

The redhead made a noncommittal noise before she turned and left the kitchen. Ash nudged Rue's arm.

"Who was she again?"

"That's Janelle," Rue rolled her eyes. "She's a bit…condescending."

Harley snorted. "A bit is an understatement. We've barely moved into here and she already pisses me off."

"She definitely has a superiority complex," Georgina said darkly.

"Ugh, this makes me want a milkshake. They got ice cream?" Ash grumbled.

"They do," Meghan crowed happily, looking at Ash expectantly.

Ash stared and then looked around the kitchen, seeing matching expectant looks.

"Who wants one?" she asked wryly.

"Me!" a chorus of voices echoed cheerfully.

* * *

Wesley looked at George, who marked something on the board.

"Okay, betting pool's opened!"

"I want to place my bet on Ash," Wesley said immediately. "Second or first place."

"Me too," Zachary said gleefully. "I like her. I think she's awesome."

Roger lightly shoved Zachary. "This is to bet on the women, not to date them."

Zachary waved him off. "If she's available after all this, I'm totally asking her out."

Lisa coughed and they turned to her. "I'll place a bet now too."

"Janelle, right?" Wesley said, looking to George.

At her silence, the others looked back to her and her face flushed.

"Um…"

"No, no, no!" Zachary stopped her. "You _swore_ on Janelle! You said she'd definitely be the one to bag Giovanni!"

"Well, I like Ash too. She's cute and funny, more likable than Janelle. And…sheesh! I walked in on them just earlier, and there's a total difference between the two. Ash was talking about her experiences and despite being young, she definitely seemed older and more mature. Janelle is pretty freaking frigid."

Lisa fidgeted with the cup in her hand. "Also…Ash made me a chocolate milkshake."

"What?" Zachary yelped, coming towards her. "Really? I want one!"

Lisa held hers protectively away.

"We can't _all_ bet on Ash," Roger said in exasperation. "So, aside from Wesley –who'd supported her from the beginning –and Zachary who already placed his bet, the rest of us has to pick someone else. George, I'm on Rue for first or second. We'll bet on third or fourth place later."

Lisa sighed. "Fine! I'll go with Janelle and Ash as my top 2, and placing either one as first or second." She looked at them smugly.

"Alright, I'll be more specific on my bet," Zachary cut in. "Ash is first, Janelle second, and –"

George interrupted. "No and no," he glared at them all. "We're doing just our number ones right now, our top 2 later, and our top 4 tonight. Wesley is for Ash, as is Zachary. Roger's Rue. I'll get everyone else's later on. Lisa? Still Janelle, since you can't pick Ash?"

Lisa sighed again. "Alright, alright. Janelle's my first."

She looked totally disgruntled and stayed that way for the rest of the meeting. When the meeting was ending, Topher came in and had brought Giovanni, and they brought up the first date.

"I would like to have Ash be my first one-on-one date," Giovanni said, but it sounded more like an order than a request, and with the way he stared them down said that he wasn't going to accept anything but a yes from them. A bunch of them shivered and could totally get why this guy was the type to get what he wanted without much fuss.

"Right, Ash gets the first one-on-one," Wesley agreed for the production crew. "Let's pick some of the girls for the group date and then who gets the second one-on-one."

It was decided that Rue, Janelle, Harley, Georgina were some of the few that were on the group date, and that Meghan would get the second one-on-one. Then they were discussing the dates and where and what they were doing.

"We'll be a bit flexible this season," Wesley told Giovanni. "Usually, we have all the dates planned out and know where you're going and what you're going to do before the filming starts, but aside from your request to be included in deciding about all that, we also decided on flexibility and a bit of spontaneity so we could be a bit more unpredictable this season than usual. Also hopefully keep the spoilers from leaking, if you know what I mean."

Giovanni hmmed, seeming focused on something.

"So what're you thinking of?" Lisa prodded curiously, especially since he seemed so concentrated.

"I'm deciding on a place to take Ash to," he frowned, looking at their list of possible locations and activities. "She's well-traveled and has been able to do a lot in her years of travel."

"What did you manage to find out what she likes?" Lisa asked and Giovanni thought about it.

"Pokémon," he said without hesitation. "Anything to do with pokémon, adrenaline stuff –she's apparently a bit of an adrenaline junkie –and she secretly likes princess stuff but she refuses to admit that to her friends. She's a bit embarrassed about it…"

Lisa blinked, while Zachary whistled. Wesley raised an eyebrow, watching Giovanni closely.

"Some first talk you two must have had," Roger said wryly.

Giovanni hmmed again before saying suddenly, "Seafoam Islands."

"Pardon?" Wesley blinked.

"She doesn't know this, but she mentioned to me that at one point before she went to compete in the Indigo League tournament, she'd gone to Seafoam Islands with her friends and her town. I was vacationing there at the time, and I'm pretty sure we almost met or could have," Giovanni informed them. "I would like to take her there."

The producers looked at each other before Wesley hesitantly nodded. "Okay. That can be done. What are you planning on doing there?"

And so Giovanni began outlining the plan he had, before he was prodded on to think about the group date and the other one-on-one. When he left, Lisa shoved a dazed Zachary away from her.

"Not that all of the dates don't sound good and are actually pretty extravagant, but…am I the only one who noticed how _personal_ Ash's is? I mean, he catered it around things he _remembered_ about her. And he plans on cooking dinner for her himself!"

Roger bit his lip. "It's going to be pretty obvious who his favorite is."

Wesley looked thoughtful, before shrugging helplessly. "Can you stop gravitation?" he asked with a huff.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Zachary eyed him.

Wesley snorted. "They're going to gravitate towards each other no matter what happens. It looks pretty inevitable."

Lisa moaned. "Damn it, and I have to bet against her!"

The others either shook their heads or laughed.

* * *

Ash tried to get some of the others to go exploring with her, but they all wanted to lounge around, laze by the pool, or exercise around the house. So that meant she was traipsing around, kind of paranoid if she was being watched by the cameras, and also getting more than a little bored.

But Wesley had warned her about this. No books, no TV, no cell phone…They were isolated and had nothing to do. It kind of sucked and she missed Pikachu too. At least with him, the two of them could always keep themselves from being bored.

However, Ash found herself nearing another building and realized this is where "the Bachelor" was staying when she caught sight of Giovanni sitting on a couch outside and writing something.

"Pst! Is it okay to come there?" Ash whispered and he whipped his head around to face her, eyebrows raising.

"Technically not," he grinned when he realized who it was. "I think, according to one of the producers, the number one rule of the show is that there's no off-camera interaction between you all and myself."

"So one of their jobs is to make sure you don't get any alone time with any of us if it's not being filmed?" Ash asked.

"According to them, they take that job very seriously because it's important to show the entire, complete journey onscreen," Giovanni rolled his eyes.

"Should I leave then?" she glanced around.

Giovanni waved her over. "There are no producers around and besides, we already have a past history they have no idea about," he told her as he patted the seat next to him.

She looked around one more time before coming towards him and sitting down. She glanced at what he was doing, but she couldn't get a good look.

"What are you doing?" she decided to outright ask about it.

"Work," he answered. "Or what I remember I needed to work on. I'm not allowed my laptop or phone. It's infuriating because I still need to work and run my business and Team Rocket, even if I am here."

"Should you really be talking about you know what out in the open?" she asked sarcastically.

Giovanni held up some kind of device she didn't recognize. "I've slipped some of my people around here. They'd warn me if anyone's around."

Ash sweatdropped at the smug man. Really, this guy…

"How's moving into the mansion?" he asked then and she twitched.

"Boring," she grumbled. "There's nothing to do. The others are just exercising, playing around or lounging around the pool, or lounging in the house. Well, we did get a cool gift bag at least…"

"Oh? What was in it?"

Ash remembered to when she officially moved in with the others.

"Um, some jewelry, beauty product stuff, clothing…and I think some bikinis. That kind of stuff." She shrugged. "We have to do our own cooking and laundry. Somehow I've gotten drafted into cooking for the house," Ash laughed.

She shifted a bit, looking at him from the corner of her eye. Having sat next to him, she could feel his warmth from how close he was and she wanted to fidget or even move away, but didn't as she knew it would draw attention to her. Still, she watched and instead carefully moved closer to him, trying not to make too much of it.

"Why did you agree to be on this show anyway?" she questioned, remembering that.

"My reputation was being threatened," he turned towards her, somehow bringing their knees to touch as he did so. "Apparently the rumors of me being the boss of Team Rocket was escalating –it was spreading to the public and being taken more seriously, so the idiots on my PR units from my business and the Team came up with this crap. I agreed and got stuck here, though I suppose it's not too bad, since it's more or less a vacation and you're here and a kindred spirit."

That made her blush and she hoped it wasn't visible, or at least that he couldn't see it.

"I should go," she muttered.

He blinked at her. "What? Why?"

"Don't want to be caught," she said a little louder and stood up. She gave him a weak grin. "I'll stick around the show and help you out, endure this crap and help you keep your boss status secret."

She was about to leave when she felt him grab her wrist and she turned back to him in surprise. He stared back at her intensely with dark eyes, making her shiver.

"I will see you tomorrow," he murmured and turned her wrist over, placing a soft kiss to the inside of it.

She swallowed heavily. "See you tomorrow," she whispered.

Then she turned tail and ran, not looking back and not admitting that she was running away.

Started 1/23/17 – Completed 1/27/17

 


	8. The First Date

So apparently they were going to Seafoam Islands.

After having run away from Giovanni and making it back to the mansion, they were all gathered together and Giovanni himself appeared with the host. The cameras were rolling, so she assumed that there was an announcement that was supposed to be made and it was going to be important for them to catch everyone's reactions.

To which she now knew they were being flown out to Seafoam Islands and start in on the dates.

Her stomach flipped and for some reason the idea of that, of the dates finally happening, made her feel odd and she couldn't quite understand or explain it. She just knew she was feeling weird about this, and a strange sort of anxiety bothered her.

Her bag was still packed since she hadn't really unpacked it. Plus, last night had been their first ever shooting and Rose Ceremony, so today had practically been their first and only day living in the mansion so far.

Grabbing her suitcase, she dragged it with her as she went to meet the others. Soon enough, all the luggage were being stowed away and they were getting to buses that would take them to the airport, where they would fly over.

"So today, we're apparently just being flown over and we get to spend it settling in, then tomorrow we'll get back to shooting and get the date cards and everything," Meghan told Ash excitedly.

Ash gave her a weak grin. "Sounds good to me. I'm just hoping that we're not going to be thrown into the deep end of this."

"I wouldn't mind," Rue admitted. "This is a strange situation in the first place, so it's probably best to just dive in and go with the flow."

"I wonder who will get the first date card?" Harley asked, giggling a bit. "It would be really nice to be the one."

"I wouldn't mind just having a one-on-one at all," Georgina said. "Getting to spend the whole day, all alone with Giovanni?"

"A group date wouldn't be bad," Meghan said. "It's at least some sort of time spent with him, and you'll just have to find some way to stand out and make him notice and like you."

"Easier said than done," Harley sighed.

"What about you?" Rue asked Ash and she was caught off guard.

Ash thought about it, but ended up shrugging. "I don't know. I'm kind of a mess inside about all this. I don't know how to navigate through this whole weird thing, but I do know I want to be here for him. I guess I would like to have any time with him, if possible, but a one-on-one sounds like it would be wonderful."

The girls chatted some more about it, though Ash kind of stayed quiet and just answered when she was asked for her opinion on something. She was just a little overwhelmed and lost at this point, but she figured that maybe she'll relax sometime into this situation sooner or later. Right?

In any case, the bus ride ended soon enough and they were ushered into a plane and then sent off to Seafoam Islands, though Ash wondered how and when Giovanni would get there. He was obviously not on the same plane, so it made her think that maybe he was on another one, or in another part of this plane somehow.

The plane ride wasn't that long, so they were landing with practically no time at all, though it was now nighttime. The women all grabbed their luggage and then were driven to their hotel, where each of them settled into the suite that had several bedrooms that the girls packed into.

Ash was out like a light after everything, what with the rushing and traveling they had to do.

* * *

Ash yawned, having woken up just then. She left the empty room and headed to the living room of the suite, where almost everyone was eating the room service that was brought to them. She grabbed a plate and sleepily piled on food onto hers, before plopping down on the floor next to the couch that sat Georgina, Meghan, Rue, and Harley.

"Today's the big day," Harley cheerfully said. "Date cards!"

"I'm curious who gets the first one and what they get to do," Georgina wondered. "This is Seafoam Islands. It's a vacation spot, so anything is possible and will probably be really fun. Maybe something to do with the beach?"

Ash laughed lightly, still half-asleep. "I'd probably be satisfied with a car ride date. I'm pretty simple and don't mind enjoying cheap thrills…"

They all discussed it a little more, before finishing breakfast and putting everything away. Once they did though, there was a knock on their door.

"It's here!" Harley shrieked in excitement.

Someone opened the door and a grinning Topher Harris came in, waving the card that everyone wanted a look at. Behind him, the cameras and camera guys followed. Everyone was gathered into the suite, and Topher held it out.

"Our first date card," he declared. He handed it over to one of the girls. "Enjoy, guys."

He left and the girl who had it opened it, giggling immediately.

" _Ash_ ," and almost everyone whooped and she felt congratulating claps on her back, while she sat there in a daze as she not only got the first one-on-one, but the first date card overall. "Nostalgia's going to hit hard."

Ash blinked. What?

"Ohh, I wonder what do they mean by that?" Meghan asked.

"Maybe…Hey, you ever been to Seafoam Islands?" Rue directed towards her.

Ash nodded slowly. "…Yeah, years ago though. I think I remember telling Giovanni about it the first night."

"How cute," Georgina smiled widely. "He remembered that!"

"And he's using it to come up for something for your date," Rue mused aloud. She looked thoughtful about it, while everyone else was giggling and talking about it.

Ash, in the meantime, was blushing bright red as she thought about that and wondered what Giovanni was up to.

"Er, I guess I should get ready?" Ash said more like a question, and many of the girls waved her off hurriedly.

"Duh! OF course," Meghan rolled her eyes, hopping off the couch and grabbing onto Ash. "Come on, you!"

After a quick shower and brush of her teeth, Ash was picking through her luggage with Meghan and trying to come up with something to wear. Obviously, a dress was probably out of the question. She had a feeling that something physical was going to be involved and she didn't want to mess up a dress.

That said, Meghan insisted on something that wasn't entirely casual, so she went with a red blouse and black leggings. There was another knock heard and Ash's breath hitched. It was happening already?

The door to her shared room was opened and Rue poked her head in. "He's here," she whispered, and Ash floundered with her shoes, nearly tripping as she tried to put them on and walk at the same time.

Finally she managed and then tried to walk calmly into the living room, where she saw Giovanni smoothly talking down the girls and charmingly speaking with them with whatever topic they brought up. But when she walked in, his attention was immediately drawn to her and he blinked, before a smirk briefly appeared. He politely excused himself from the others before coming towards her and holding out his arm.

"Shall we?" his eyes glittered in amusement.

"Sure," she grinned back, unable to help it.

She took his arm and then they were off.

In the car they were in, Ash poked his arm before glancing back at the car that was going to follow them with the cameras and which was being packed in by the camera crew and a few of the producers.

"Do I get to know where we're going or what we're doing?" Ash asked.

"It's a surprise," he told her dryly. "So no."

She admitted she pouted a bit. "The girls think you made the date around the talk we had where I talked about Seafoam Islands."

"I did," he answered succinctly, making her stare at him. "Actually, we didn't have a destination to go to yet, so I picked Seafoam Islands because I wanted to bring you here after you brought it up."

"And cut!"

Giovanni and her startled and they looked to their side, where there was Roger and a cameraman. They hadn't even noticed them or that they were being filmed.

Roger waved. "Hey, so we're heading out now! You can drive over first, while we follow behind."

After he and the cameraman left, Giovanni and Ash sat there in silence.

"That was…" Giovanni trailed off.

"Creepy," she muttered. "I didn't even notice them there."

Giovanni sighed and started the car, and then he drove off to where he first planned the first part of their date.

* * *

"Parasailing?" Ash's grin could split her face.

Giovanni smirked smugly. "You might've mentioned that three idiots ruined your day at Seafoam Islands, when you were doing an errand for Professor Oak and they crashed in on a parachute. Since I also remembered you saying you love doing things that pump up your adrenaline, I figured you might enjoy something like this. Think of it as a little payback somehow."

Even though probably only she and Giovanni would understand that last bit, Ash appreciated it. A little payback on the trio, even if they weren't there, but also a little payback on Giovanni himself since those were his three idiots and (as he'd admitted to her on the drive over) he had actually sent them over in a way, mostly so they'd get off his back and leave him alone on his own vacation.

"Ready?" he asked after she'd been strapped up and secured into the harness and everything.

Ash admitted she really didn't mind this and kind of even was excited. She really was a bit of an adrenaline junkie, and huge thrills like this really got her heart pumping and her all enthusiastic. That Giovanni actually remembered that (and well…that whole bit about her being in Seafoam Islands and doing all this for her), made feel very…happy? It was hard to admit and realize that it did make her happy, considering who he was, but she was coming to realize that there really was a different side to Giovanni and she didn't mind it.

At first, they ended up taking turns first and it was exhilarating. She screamed excitedly every time she was in the air, waving down at an amused Giovanni, who waved up at her from the ground the first time. When he first went up, he was a little awkward and unsure, but then –like always –the smug bastard acclimated and became like a freaking natural. But it was expected. Giovanni tended to do his utmost best to _look_ his best doing whatever it was he was doing at the time.

But then…they'd been set up to try parasailing together. As he moved in behind her and she could feel his body warmth, she bit her lip and tried not to think too much on it. It was hard though, especially as his arms moved to go around her and she could feel his body against hers, while feeling and hearing his breath against her ear as he leaned into her. And when they shot off into the sky, he had to hold tight onto her and she'd ended up grasping onto his arms, and it was much too close and intimate for her comfort. If it was making her head dizzy and spin, and had nothing to do with the actual parasailing itself, then it had to be uncomfortable and unnatural.

Even though his scent and warmth was really nice, and she really wanted to lean back against him.

Afterwards, windblown hair and all, she was surprisingly brought over to a villa to her confusion. Still ignoring the cameras, Giovanni politely sat her at the island counter in the middle of the kitchen, while she noted it was dark now. The entire time, he'd stuck close to her, holding gently onto her as he led her to the car after the parasailing, and then when he'd led her from it to the villa. From there, Ash waited impatiently to find out what was going on, even though she tried to be patient and not look like she was bursting with questions.

"So welcome to my villa here," he said and it staggered her and nearly made her gape. H-he'd brought her _where_? "I was going to mention this earlier, but thought it'd fit better now. When you said you were here one time, visiting with your town and doing an errand for Professor Oak, I remembered the time and realized I was vacationing here. It's a little bit of a thought, but we could have met a long time ago."

Hell, probably almost met more like, considering how close they actually were to each other, remembering the location of the lab she had been in and to where she now knew was where his villa was. And adding in the Rocket Trio and their involvement…

Which also made her remember his comment the drive over about him sending the trio away and over to there so they'd leave him alone. It almost made her laugh, considering of course he would be _right here_ trying to have a vacation some ways away from her, and the trio bothering him and therefore being sent over her way, and her getting annoyed and making them blast off. It just seemed ironic now.

"What are you doing?" she asked as she saw him getting pans out, as well as apparently ingredients. He turned to her with a light smirk, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm going to make you dinner," he told her and she really did gape this time. "So sit tight for a bit."

He went back to what he was doing, neatly chopping up some vegetables while heating up the pans and setting a pot of water to boil. Ash inwardly and rather hysterically giggled at this strange picture, considering who it was that was cooking for her. But…the fact that he _was_ personally cooking for her…

Ash found herself smiling a little to herself as she fiddled with the radio on the island counter she was sitting at, swinging her legs a bit in cheer. She felt sappy and silly, so she didn't mind the gooey love song that started to play as a duet from Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran, nor that she was humming along.

If she was honest, things had changed somehow.

And if Giovanni started, unbelievably, crooning along to this sappy, sweet song, then there was something in her that sort of just…lit up and made her realize things, and feel something that she hadn't thought she would or could towards the Rocket Boss of all people.

Somehow or other, she really did want to get to know Giovanni better.

Started 3/9/17 – Completed 3/9/17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, these dorky, lovesick idiots! Aren't they sweeties? I'm pathetically giggling at their date XD Hope you guys liked this chapter and please remember to review!


	9. The First Group Date (From Hell)

Every time their eyes met, her heart sped up and she wanted to look away and try to think of something else other than the intense look to his eyes as he looked at her. But she couldn't and didn't look away, and she was sure that she looked terrified.

That or mystified at all that this was happening to her right now.

"I enjoyed tonight," he said smoothly, his lips quirking up as he watched her thoughtfully.

"Me too," she whispered, gazing back at him.

He glanced at the rose on the silver platter next to them and then back to her. His hand moved across the table and he let it wait, and before she could make herself second think it, she reached across the table slowly and hesitantly touched his, leading him to decisively grab her hand.

"I would give you that rose several times over," he admitted. "But would you take it?"

She swallowed heavily, feeling the tension in the room grow. She glanced at their held hands.

"I wouldn't choose otherwise," she said, even if she wasn't sure about all this still.

He reached for the rose and handed it to her, and she accepted it, and all the while neither let go of the other's hand. It made Ash uneasy, and she had to remind herself this was a reality show and she was there to help him out anyway.

She shouldn't be making a big deal out of things or giving weird reactions. Really, she shouldn't be acting so weird and be all weird about everything. Right.

Ash took a deep breath and gave him a slight smile, having composed herself as much as she could.

"Thank you for tonight," she said.

"Thank _you_ ," he echoed.

"That's a wrap, guys," they were startled out of it, with Zachary clapping. "That was great. You guys should eat the food. It'd be a waste of Giovanni's surprising culinary talents!"

"I would've been eating from the moment you brought all the food here," Ash huffed, giving Giovanni a look while she pushed aside their oddly intimate moment of earlier.

Wesley cut in, amused. "Sorry about that –we just prefer you guys not to be eating while filming. The sound of food being eaten ends up being picked up by the mics and we don't want that."

"At least it's still warm," Ash said cheerfully, digging in heartily.

"What's the verdict?" Giovanni smirked as he asked dryly, watching her in entertainment.

"Oh, _so_ good," Ash moaned, closing her eyes blissfully. "It's delicious."

Giovanni looked very smug, but Ash wasn't paying attention.

"After you eat, we'll have you guys look over the footage we just shot for your date and do your interviews, then we'll take you back to the hotel. Got that, guys?" Wesley asked them.

"Mmm," Ash made some sort of noise, agreeing while more focused on her food.

Giovanni and the producers watched her in amusement.

"Well…what she said," Giovanni told the two producers sarcastically. "At least the food I made won't go to waste," he teased.

Ash swallowed her food and then grinned cheekily. "I'd marry you for the food, just saying. Be proud of how awesome it is. I'll have to return the favor one of these days and cook for you too."

"I'll look forward to it."

"Tell me we have some camera shooting this," Zachary muttered to Wesley. "This could at least go with the bloopers or post-credit scenes."

Wesley discreetly pointed to a camera to the side that was still going.

"I've learned it's best to keep it going, even after the cut," Wesley muttered back. "There's too many good scenes they happen to create, and it would be remised of us to miss even a single moment."

So they continued to shoot while the two talked over their food, trading conversation over the recent pokémon inventions and discoveries they'd both heard.

Afterwards, Ash went to get interviewed first and looked over the footage, laughing in delight at it. As she looked at the camera, she smiled brightly.

"I love, love, _love_ the parasailing! It was so much fun and it was like I was really flying! I might as well be, right?" Her smile faltered as she remembered parasailing with Giovanni. "He's…he's really warm, you know? It was strange. Being up there and pretty much being in his arms…I don't think I ever remember feeling so warm and safe like that. It was just…strange," she repeated.

They stopped her there and then had her start in on the scene at dinner, where Giovanni led her to his villa.

"This place is nice," she hmmed, though she had to remember to answer as if she was speaking straight after the very moment.

"Didn't think it was his, huh?" Zachary said.

She shook her head.

"Comment on that," Wesley told her. "Try to remember what you thought and what was going through your mind when he told you."

Ash giggled, not worried because she was sure they'd edit that out. Instead, she recalled exactly what was going through her head.

"Wait… _what_? Did he just say what I think he did?" Ash took a deep breath, before shaking her head again. "Gah! I don't…I don't know what to think anymore," her voice grew soft as she thought about the situation more. "He made this date for me. He brought us here to Seafoam Islands because of something I mentioned to him just that one time, during that first night. And now he brought me to his villa? With again mentioning how it was linked to us and how for a moment we could have met a long time ago…"

Ash grew thoughtful, kind of zoning out. "Now wouldn't that have been something," she murmured. "What if we had met that time…"

She remembered when he started cooking for her and her cheeks warmed. A big grin crossed her face and she placed her hands against her cheeks.

"Ah! He _cooked_ for me! That's just so…so _sweet_!" She closed her eyes and wiggled happily in her seat.

Honestly, it was different from having Brock or Cilan (or even Siebold that one time) cook for her. This was done specifically for her and to treat her, and just felt overly romantic.

A poke to her cheek abruptly startled her and she opened her eyes and blinked, seeing Wesley standing over her and looking down at her in amusement.

"Back in the present?" he asked.

"….Noooo?" she asked questioningly, feeling sheepish.

Zachary laughed. "How about you start on the scene where he gives the rose?"

Ash shook her head rapidly and surprisingly burst into giggles, holding her hands to her face again.

"No, no, no! I can't! It's so embarrassing!" Her giggles felt uncontrollable and she couldn't stop. It got to the point where she even fell off her chair and landed on the floor. "Oof!"

"Are you okay?" Wesley asked, half in concern and half in laughter, while he and Zachary came to help her up.

"Yeah, yeah," she said breathlessly, shaking her head as she grinned. "Sorry. I just had a…dork fit."

Zachary let out an unwitting snort.

Ash rubbed the back of her head and laughed lightly. "Right, right. Where were we?"

"The rose scene," Wesley reminded her, still laughing a little. "Composed?"

"Yes, yes," she waved him off, before looking into the camera and then bursting into giggles. "I-I'm so sorry! I can't stop!"

Wesley shook his head and shared a look with an entertained Zachary.

"Why do I have a feeling all of our bloopers this year will be filled with you?" Zachary snickered. "Can someone get a glass of water?"

After a few minutes, taking sips of her newly acquired water and calming down, Ash took a deep breath before looking fondly into the camera and speaking as it began to roll again.

"He cooks and sings," she shrugged. "Hell, he sang _Taylor Swift_. That is _something_ ," she laughed, before her lips turned wry. "How could I _not_ accept his rose? And the _way_ he asked…" She looked at the camera imploringly.

Because who was she kidding? She was supposed to be on his side and helping him out, not turning into one of these lovesick girls. But Giovanni was turning tables on her and she was getting too into this show.

"Are we done yet?" she asked, unable to hide how depressed she'd gotten.

Wesley raised his eyebrows, concerned again. "Yeah, we'll just wrap it up. We'll get Giovanni in here and then you two can head back to the hotel."

Ash nodded distractedly and was led out of the room. Giovanni was brought in a minute later, and he gave them amused looks.

"Should I ask about the fits of laughter I heard earlier? Or the loud thud?"

"Nope," Zachary grinned widely. "Here's the footage of the night."

Giovanni watched it, a strange look crossing over his face.

"This date was for her," he admitted to the camera, a thoughtful look on his face. "I didn't suddenly see this date and decided to pick her for it because I thought she was perfect for it or it was perfect for her. I purposely came up with the date myself after I remembered something she told me about on that first night, about coming here to Seafoam Islands, and I don't think I entertained the thought of anything else when it came to start the dates."

"If the viewers don't instantly think Ash and him are inevitable by the first episode, this episode should cement it," Zachary muttered to Wesley, shaking his head. "We should just rename the season the Ash and Giovanni show, it's so obvious."

Wesley grunted, watching Giovanni speak to the camera. "Yes, but a show's still a show. We may have to encourage him to still keep an open mind, and have the other women be a little more aggressive…"

"…glad that she liked the parasailing. I'm not really the type for it, but it wasn't bad and I enjoyed being up there more when I was with her. I didn't expect her to fit so well in my arms," Giovanni glanced away from the cameras.

"I don't know if he's aware of it himself," Wesley frowned. "But his mood changes so obviously around her. She brings a lighter air to him, and he's a bit more carefree than he would notice or allow himself to be otherwise."

"Should we suggest he reign it in a little? It is pretty early in the season, and too obvious who he leans towards the most already."

Wesley thought about it, but shook his head. "As much as I would prefer it, since we do have a show to film and all, I think the viewers would really like to and would prefer to leave these two on their own. We'll just have to keep filming and see how it progresses, and edit what need be."

"I found I really wanted her to have that rose. But that was how it felt the first night as well. I don't think that will change any time soon."

Wesley shook his head. They didn't need leaks or some spoiler site to make it obvious who was probably endgame. Giovanni didn't look to be seeing anyone else in his field of vision.

* * *

Ash came back to the hotel when it was dark and obviously everyone was already asleep. She was grateful for that because she wasn't sure she was up to talking at all, much less having to tell the others how the date went.

After Giovanni had finished, the two of them met up at the entrance to his villa, where they waited for the producers. The production crew would clean up and leave when they were done, so the four of them would take a limo back to the hotel. After what had happened, the limo ride had been filled with a tension she wasn't used to, made stronger as she sat next to Giovanni and how occasionally their arms and knees would brush up against each other. By the time they'd reached the hotel, she was a bundle of nerves and had almost decided to run out of the limo the moment the limo stopped. However, when the limo did stop, Giovanni grabbed her hand and –like he had that time they met without permission –kissed her wrist.

"Thank you for tonight. I look forward to the next time we can spend together."

"M-me too."

And though she didn't exactly run away, she powerwalked out of there and up to the suite without looking back. Which led to her quietly entering the suite and sneaking into the room she shared with Meghan, yawning and starting to feel tired finally. It had been a long day out after all. She forced herself to change first before she collapsed onto her bed and passed out.

When morning came, she did her best to rouse herself, rubbing at her eyes and slowly pushing herself off of her bed. Looking to the other bed in the room, she saw it was empty and assumed Meghan had woken up already. She left the room and was surprised at how quiet it was. When she looked around, she saw no one either.

"Oh, you're awake!"

Correction, Meghan was still here, having exited out of the bathroom. She grinned at Ash.

"For a second last night, we all joked that your date had become an overnight one," Meghan teased. "Some of the other girls actually began to think it seriously though. Kind of got some of us worried," she confessed, becoming a bit solemn.

Ash uncomfortably nodded, not sure what to say about that.

"Never mind that though," Meghan was back to smiling. "Get some breakfast in you. Then I want you to dish all the details! I want to know how it went, what happened, what he said, what _you_ said…Haha, wait until I tell the girls I was first to hear all about it!" she ended, sounding triumphant.

Ash's face turned red. "Er, yeah, okay," she mumbled, turning to look for the food so that she could focus on that and not on the upcoming talk. But thinking back to the date kind of made her feel dazed and even contemplative, as she remembered it and what had happened and was said on it.

She hadn't even realized she'd mechanically and without tasting a single thing, ate the cold food that she'd gathered onto a plate and didn't even remember to warm up before she began eating. Lost in thought as she was, just thinking about the date made her all sorts of confused and feeling odd about it.

"Okay, now you've definitely have to say something," Meghan poked her arm. "You've been out of it for at least 10 minutes, and have had this sort of dazed look to you. Talk!"

Ash sighed and put down her plate, before she began recounting what had happened on her one-on-one date with Giovanni, who had admitted to her that the date had been created and centered with her in mind because of what she'd told him the first night. She didn't leave out anything, from the parasailing to the villa that he led her to, to him cooking and even singing a little bit with her. She even told Meghan about Giovanni telling her how they could have possibly met a long time ago, to how he'd given her the one-on-one date rose. Meghan just ate it all up, looking like she had stars in her eyes.

"That is _so_ romantic," Meghan smiled widely, looking dreamy. "It makes me want to know about my date and go on it already. Although if I was honest, I don't think it'll be anywhere near as personal as it had been for you. He literally handpicked everything about that date, and even got us all out here to start off the dates with that."

Meghan tilted her head in thought, looking at Ash after. "You know, I'm pretty sure he really likes you."

Ash stiffened up. She swallowed heavily. "I'm sure it's nothing. I mean, it's still too early to figure things like that, right?" She chuckled weakly.

Meghan shrugged. "I don't think so. I'm convinced he's way into you already." She frowned. "Which, you know, kind of sucks for the rest of us –but it doesn't mean that we'll just give up! Like you said, it's still early on, and he still has to meet with us all and spend time with us. Things can change."

For some reason, that made Ash feel a little upset, the thought of that. Which was ridiculous. She wasn't seriously pursuing Giovanni, and he wasn't seriously pursuing _anyone_ at all. He just needed a PR boost.

"I'd be happy for him though, and if I'd lose him to anyone, I wouldn't mind if it was you," Meghan caught Ash off guard. "We all, well most of us I'm sure, want him to be honestly happy and to pick the right girl and someone who'd make him happy. Of course all of us would want to be that girl, but if there was anyone here who'd deserve him and who he'd deserve, you'd be it. You're nice, sweet, pretty cool to be around…You're just really likable and I don't know…if I was a guy and in his shoes, I'd probably pick you too," she started laughing, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.

Ash blushed and smiled awkwardly. "Thanks, uh, I guess?"

Meghan just winked at her. "Still, I haven't really gotten over the fact he's the Bachelor, you know?"

"Really?" Ash asked, kind of curious. Well, she was surprised too, but that's mostly because he didn't seemed the type to be on these kind of things, and because he's the boss of Team Rocket and further reason wouldn't be on something like the show.

Meghan nodded. "He's got quite the reputation. He's really popular and has been named one of the top 5 bachelors on the PokéNews and top 10 of the most eligible billionaire bachelors on Forbes. He's handsome, rich, and famous. What's there not to like about him?"

' _He's the boss of Team Rocket,'_ Ash replied in her thoughts, almost smirking.

"There's also that he's actually pretty private," Meghan added on, surprising Ash again. "So who would've thought he'd be on this show? I mean, he also doesn't really date much, not that the media or paparazzi can catch. It's not that he's not wanted either, since like I said he's pretty eligible and a big catch. He's seen at functions with a gorgeous woman on his arm every time, so it's not like it's hard for him to find someone. But then again, they're all probably gold diggers," she snorted. "It's always a different woman though, so it doesn't seem like he was going steady with any of them or that they really matter."

"What do _you_ like about him?" Ash almost blurted it out, but managed to ask it normally. She didn't know why she'd asked that though.

Meghan brightened up. "Well, it's hard to say right now, since we just started and none of us have gotten any real time with him yet. All of us came here looking for love, right? Well, I did and it's just lucky that the Bachelor is Giovanni. Right now, everything for me is at a superficial level, but I know he's handsome and there's already an attraction there. When I did get to talk to him at the cocktail party, he was surprisingly sweet and kind, and he was really intelligent and thoughtful during our talk. I just really want that connection. Don't you?"

"Y-yes, I suppose," Ash stuttered, having not expected the question.

Meghan gave her a wry grin. "Lucky you seem to already have one."

Ash breathed in sharply, biting her lip at that.

* * *

Lisa whistled, looking at the setup.

"Okay, when the group date was decided on being a beach party, this was _not_ what we envisioned."

Zachary huffed, shaking his head. "No way. I don't think we have the budget or the ability to pull this off so quickly."

Indeed, there were tons of barbecue pits suddenly there, with people in black ensembles and red accents to the uniform being put in charge of cooking. In the waters were a quadruplet set of jet skis and a yacht, and on the sand was a huge blanket with plates of minor snacks set up. There was even a volleyball net put up, and they were pretty sure that was a DJ playing music.

"That's a lot of people," Roger muttered, glancing at the cooks. "Can we pay them all?"

Wesley shrugged. "Giovanni said he'd handle it," he told them in bemusement. "Come on, let's get closer to the women."

"…be back. I'm just going to make sure the food is being cooked well and then I'll attend to you all," Giovanni smiled winningly at them. "Feel free to try out the jet skis, play some volleyball, or enjoy the snacks and music."

He left while the women tittered, and the producers honed in a little closer, settling just beside a few of the cameras.

"I guess Italians really are thoughtful of their food," one of the women giggled. "I wonder if he has a home outside of the Regions?"

"You could ask Ash," said another woman, a little bitterly. "She seems to be really close to him already. They probably talked about that during their date."

Wesley choked on his water, having been drinking out of his water bottle then.

"Ah, here comes the usual and expected rivalry and envy," Roger muttered to them.

"He _does_ seem to really like her already," Harley said hesitantly.

Georgina hnned. "He's totally fond of her. There's no 'seem' about that. I mean, you heard it –her date was practically made up just for her and created around things she'd said to him and that he actually remembered. It was that personal. She's clearly a favorite and they already have a strong relationship."

Lisa winced. "At least they don't know that he brought them all here to Seafoam Islands in the first place, for Ash and for her date…"

Janelle sneered. "You're all idiots to just be noticing this now. She's clearly ahead of the game –she may be young, but she's apparently not just some gimmick or someone they brought in to bring in trainers to watch the show. Or at least she isn't anymore."

"Oh yeah? Then when did you notice?" Harley asked, fed up with the red head's attitude.

Janelle laughed derisively. "When she got that date card. While all of you were giggling and thinking it's so romantic she got such a personal date, I took it as you all are now. _She's_ competition. Strong competition, obviously, and much more of one than any of you."

"Hey, why don't you guys play some volleyball while you wait for Giovanni? Get some of that energy going and have some fun?" Wesley said to the girls, speaking louder so they could hear him as he interrupted the spat. He grinned a bit, trying not to look forced. "Smiles, guys! We're at the beach, so go enjoy yourselves!"

"Bah, Ash is going to be in trouble," Zachary grumbled.

"We don't know that," Lisa said hurriedly.

"Please, some of those girls are already painting a target on her back and have her in their crosshairs," Roger said sarcastically. "She didn't even need the First Impression Rose to become everyone's focus."

"Ugh, you're right," Lisa conceded, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Look at them," Zachary said in amusement, pointing out the women playing volleyball. "Some of that has to be against the rules."

"Ouch," Wesley mumbled at a particularly brutal spike that had the volleyball smacking into one of the women's heads.

"Competition's heating up," Roger quipped. "And it is getting _vicious_."

Lisa shook her head. "Tell me about it."

There was shouting and a lot of finger pointing suddenly going on, and then there were tears as a lot of the women were bursting out with them.

"Oooh no. Chaos," Lisa moved to go forward, accompanied by Roger, when at that moment Giovanni suddenly was there and was somehow smoothly soothing the girls, wearing a kind smile and look on his face as he calmed them down.

"Thank Arceus we didn't have to deal with that mess," Zachary said in relief.

Wesley was still frowning though, watching everything with a sharp eye. As pretty much Ash's handler, just like Lisa was Janelle's, Roger was Georgina's, and Zachary was Meghan's (and so on, though they watched over a few of the others too), it was his job to make sure she was okay.

This was not going to make her okay.

* * *

Giovanni kept the smile on his face, joining the now calm and pleased women in playing volleyball. Truthfully, he'd rather be scowling and massaging his temples. What the hell happened and why'd they just suddenly erupt into tears like that? He wasn't sure what was going on, but at least he'd managed to quickly cheer them up so that he didn't have to deal with that headache.

An idle thought crossed his mind. It would have been nice if Ash was there, and it would probably have helped him pull through this easier. At the moment, he had to fake a laugh as someone (he couldn't remember this one's name) grasped his arm and held tight, and he inwardly cringed at being clung to. He hated clinginess.

Then again, would he have minded so much if it had been Ash being clingy?

He blinked, shocked at himself and the strange thoughts entering his head that day.

"Crashing, hit a wall  
Right now I need a miracle  
Hurry up now, I need a miracle.  
Stranded, reaching out  
I call your name but you're not around  
I say your name but you're not around~"

Giovanni straightened, this time frowning as he immediately looked to where his "DJ" was and narrowed his eyes as Proton waved and grinned, giving him a v-sign.

"I need ya, I need ya, I need you right now  
Yeah, I need you right now  
So don't let me, don't let me, don't let me down  
I think I'm losing my mind now  
It's in my head, darling, I hope  
That you'll be here, when I need you the most  
So don't let me, don't let me, don't let me down  
D-don't let me down~"

He was going to dock that idiot's pay. He really was.

Started 3/30/17 – Completed 4/11/17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn, this chapter took me a bit and became long. It's because of all of what I wanted to fit in here; I'd almost decided to stop at an earlier pace so I could hurry up and update the story. But eh, this chapter is whole and long now, so at least I hope you guys are happy with it. Enjoy and please remember to review!
> 
> Quick Points:
> 
> 1\. Pandora Pairings Forum: Rare pair forum I created that has lots of challenges, so check it and subscribe please!
> 
> 2\. The Regions Legends: If you like Pokémon, this is my collab account with a few friends of mine. Please check it out and fav, alert, and review! I'm personally in charge of "The Book of Ash", "The Book of Eve","The Book of Mal", and "Kitty Claws."I'd really appreciate it as we don't have any real attention and I've updated several times and haven't gotten any reviews for some past chapters, which is disappointing. So please take a bit of time to read and drop some reviews.
> 
> 3\. Wattpad Users: If you have a Wattpad account, pretty soon I'm going to be entering this into the Pokémon Watties. Wish me luck and check the story out on Wattpad too!


	10. The Countdown Begins

So imagine Ash's surprise when, after the group date and the women all came back, to find the lot of them glaring daggers at each other and a lot of them seeming to have red eyes that obviously showed they'd been crying.

The atmosphere (that she usually couldn't read for the life of her) totally read like a ticking bomb and that she would definitely set it off if she said anything or interfered. The tension was so thick she could probably throw Pikachu at it, ala the Pika Special Z-move they'd learned, and cause significant damage and still not affect the women out of their angered states.

Speaking of Pikachu…

"Hey," she whispered to Meghan, who seemed equally bemused as she was at all this. "I'm gonna go see if I can pester Wesley about contacting home."

"Doubt it'll work, but go ahead." Meghan was still trying to figure out what the heck happened, though she was too scared of actually approaching the apparently overly emotional women.

Ash agreed, but maybe one of the others would end up blurting out what was wrong in the midst of a yelling match or something. She decided to focus on her mission, trying to find the producer she mostly worked with.

To be honest, she wasn't too concerned with Pikachu because she was sure he was off causing chaos in Pallet Town and having fun. Sure, they'd only been separated for like…it wasn't even a week, was it?Huh! She left his side and came to the hotel and then the mansion, then the next day she'd slept in, only to be rushed later with the others onto a plane to head to Seafoam Islands, then it was her date with Giovanni, and then the next day (today) was in fact the group date. That was a total of four days (a whirlwind and crazy time of very busy days), which kind of boggled her mind. So much had happened and she didn't know if the time passed by so quickly or too slowly.

Gleefully, she spotted the producer talking to one of the other crew members and she approached quickly.

"Wesley!" she called out and he looked over to see her coming, smiling slightly. He seemed to finish up quickly with the crew member before walking towards her as well, meeting her halfway.

"Ash, what can I do for you?"

"Um," she squirmed in place. "I know we're not supposed to have phones or anything, so I was wondering if there was any way I could phone home? I'd like to at least talk to Pikachu a little…"

Wesley looked thoughtful. "Usually, we'd like to save phone calls and video messages for special occasions, and to film them for the show –usually it's for the single parents that come onto the show and need to talk to their kids, and we usually film for purposes of showcasing the contestant being a parent and all."

Ash deflated, knowing that was probably a no.

"Well, I think I can do something for you," Wesley slowly said, having noticed her grow sad. "You'd probably have to keep it a secret, 'kay?" he grinned.

She perked up and nodded eagerly, and he motioned for her to follow him. In another hotel room, he took his own phone out and handed it over and she quickly dialed her home.

"Pika, Pikachu?"

She blinked. What?

"Pikachu?" she asked unsurely.

"PIKA PI!"

She smiled to herself, though she remained confused. "I miss you too, buddy. Even if it's only been _4_ days," she said teasingly. "That said, are you answering the phone now?"

"…Pika?"

She shook her head. "Pikachu! Mom or Sam probably didn't put you up to this, so I'm sure you're off doing things on your own, aren't you?"

"Pika pika pika pi!" Pikachu started chattering.

For a few minutes, they chatted and caught up, though Ash was careful not to talk too much of the show or say anything revealing (especially with Wesley there, waiting patiently for her to be done). Soon enough she was finishing up and saying her goodbyes.

"I'll see you soon, buddy," she said. "I'll be home before you know it. Just don't cause too much trouble…or burn the town to the ground."

"…Pika pika," Pikachu said innocently.

She laughed, shaking her head as she hung up. She turned to Wesley, smiling widely.

"Thanks a lot! I really appreciate it."

He waved her off. "No problem. It's nighttime, so the others are probably getting ready for bed, if not in bed already. I'll see you tomorrow!"

Ash nodded, hurrying back to the women's suite. To her relief, the other women had indeed gone to sleep, so she headed to bed herself, finding Meghan already snoring away. She hadn't realized she'd been away for so long, or that Wesley had let her be on the phone for some time.

Happy to have contacted her Pikachu and knowing she probably wouldn't be able to for a long while, Ash fell asleep after she got ready for bed.

* * *

The moment she woke and saw Meghan's bed empty, she figured she slept in late again and that Meghan was either out of the room and getting ready for her date or already gone. Looking at the time, she guessed that it was the latter, since it was already passed nine o'clock and the dates usually begin early in the morning.

Walking out of the room, she walked into the main room and saw the rest of the women lounging around and wearing either foul looks on their faces or depressed ones. She almost backtracked out of the room to go hide in her bedroom for the rest of the day, when Harley caught sight of her and smiled as she stood up.

"Ash, you're awake!" The blonde came over to Ash and practically dragged her over to her previous seat. "Meghan already left, so it's just us left."

Ash nodded hesitantly, not sure how to handle herself right then, knowing the women were all in some kind of bad mood from yesterday.

Thankfully, as the day passed, no one said anything to her or asked her about her own date. She did hear from Harley about the group date, and was inwardly horrified at how it sounded like it went. She worried about the girls, wondering how and why they'd gotten to that point, but she was also a little worried about how Giovanni was. She was sure it wasn't an easy feat dealing with a large group of emotional women, especially with Giovanni's usual disposition.

She was totally sure that he probably charmed the pants off of them and calmed them all down, but she was just as sure that he had been stewing in annoyance and irritation.

But then Meghan came back that night, glowing in happiness and practically floating, and she had to catch herself frowning several times while mentally shaking her head at herself. The next day they were informed that they were going to have a cocktail party and that night a Rose Ceremony would be held, and the hotel suite was filled with anxious women all trying to get ready while worrying if they had made enough of an impression on Giovanni or spent enough time with him that he would definitely be giving them a rose.

Ash, herself, kept staring at her own rose and found she was unable to put it down, that is without at least a bit of a struggle. She was safe, yeah, and she knew she was there to help him out…but…

She didn't know why she was feeling so stupidly conflicted. Then again, seeing all these women becoming more and more anxious had her feeling anxious too, almost like it was contagious and she couldn't think of any reason why that was. She shouldn't be in any way nervous –besides, again she had a rose and was safe from being rejected. No problem.

But as they entered into the cocktail party phase and the women were all beginning to really panic and drink, more so as Giovanni entered and began his rounds talking to everyone, she felt herself begin to become increasingly anxious.

She had a rose. She didn't need to talk to him. Really, she didn't.

"Margarita?"

She blinked, more so as she saw the drink held in front of her by Wesley.

"Ah…sure," she accepted it.

"We tend to keep the alcohol going," Wesley shrugged. "On one hand, having a drink or two helps calms nerves. Some of the women and men tend to go overboard on occasion, but thankfully that's a rare thing. On the other hand, we also find that it helps lower inhibitions and guards, so people become more talkative and riskier and even vulnerable, which is a good thing for both them and the show," he said honestly.

She raised up her glass. "I find myself oddly anxious, despite having a rose."

"Rose or not, you still want to be sure of your connection with him against his connection with the others, and you also just really would like to be near and talk to him," he said, sounding like he understood. Which he probably did, having gone through this countless times, with others and different seasons.

"I really want to talk to him," she admitted.

"Then why don't you?" Wesley gave her an amused look.

"Because I already have a rose and the others haven't really gotten a chance to talk to him yet," she sighed.

He grinned slightly at her. "So? You still really like him, don't you? Just the same as everyone else? Then there's no reason why you can't be with him for a time too."

She bit her lip before she looked at him, and he gave her an encouraging look. She nodded surely and drank down her drink, coughing a bit after and looking sheepish for a moment before she ran off after handing him her glass. Finding an egg timer somehow, she set it to two minutes and found the largest group of ladies in the main room of the reserved rooms where the cocktail party was taking part at.

"Ash?" Rue looked at her questioningly.

"Really, really sorry!" She thrust the egg timer at one of them. "2 minutes! I'll be back after 2 minutes! I just want to talk to him really quickly!"

And then she sprinted away to hurry and find him, and try not to waste any of the time she'd set for herself. Luckily for her, she caught him just as he was excusing himself from one of the ladies, having made some excuse to go talk to a producer or something (which he totally couldn't keep doing, unless he wanted the rest to catch on, she amusingly thought to herself).

"Giovanni!" she called out, which caught his attention.

Spotting her, he smirked and waited for her to catch up.

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" He straightened up, smirk widening. "I wasn't sure I was going to see you tonight, since you already had a rose and all."

"Yeah, about that," which caused him to look worried briefly, but she paid it no mind. "I probably don't have a lot of time left," she said, confusing him. "But I just wanted to say this really quickly. That night and the moment you gave me a rose, I realized something. I'm _really_ glad I stayed on the show and that you convinced me to. And to be honest, I _really_ like being around you and talking to you and-and…I didn't expect to feel this way. So…yeah."

He stared at her for a moment, causing her to fidget and wonder what he was thinking. To her surprise, he gave her this incredibly soft smile and took a step towards her, his hand coming up to grasp the back of her head and bring her closer as he leaned forward.

Giovanni kissed her forehead.

She could feel his lips softly press against her skin, not moving and feeling warm. She inhaled deeply, eyes fluttering close for a second.

"You know, I've been wanting to kiss you several times now, but there's never a perfect moment for it to happen the way I want. Worse because you make it so hard to control myself around you," he confessed quietly, which made her heart suspiciously skip a beat.

He stepped back, but only so he could grab her hands and hold it up, her rose in the middle of their held hands.

"I'd like to ask you again to accept my rose," he murmured.

She looked into his eyes before she bent slightly and kissed the rose.

"Of course I'd keep it."

Because she couldn't help feeling like she was hanging on a chandelier and wanting to swing recklessly right now.

Started 5/4/17 – Completed 5/6/17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo, the show's 1st week is over (can't believe we're on chapter 10 already)! That means we're heading to the 2nd week finally, and even more drama to come XD Anyhoo, I hope y'all liked this chapter, so please remember to review! Reviews feed my motivation and I get fired up to write some more~
> 
> Quick Points:
> 
> 1\. Pandora Pairings Forum: Rare pair forum I created that has lots of challenges, so check it and subscribe please!
> 
> 2\. The Regions Legends: If you like Pokémon, this is my collab account with a few friends of mine. Please check it out and fav, alert, and review! I'm personally in charge of "The Book of Ash", "The Book of Eve","The Book of Mal", and "Kitty Claws."I'd really appreciate it as we don't have any real attention and I've updated several times and haven't gotten any reviews for some past chapters, which is disappointing. So please take a bit of time to read and drop some reviews.
> 
> 3\. Wattpad Users: If you have a Wattpad account, I'm going to be entering this into the Pokémon Watties today. Wish me luck and check the story out on Wattpad too!


	11. Rumor Has It...

"We are in Sinnoh!" Harley screamed, throwing out her hands in the air and excitedly twirling around in the airport terminal. She grabbed Ash's hands and pulled her into whirling with her, and Ash laughed delightedly.

"You've been here, right?" Rue asked as she and Harley slowed to a stop, though they kept giggling.

Ash nodded. "Yeah, I was here a couple years ago, I think it was."

"Too bad you can't show us around Veilstone City," Harley pouted. "What did you see around here last time you were here?'

"The department store is pretty awesome here," Ash mused. "There was a game corner last I remember, and there are plenty of massage parlors for both pokémon and people. At the east side of the city, there are four meteorites that the city is known for. And of course, the pokémon gym!" She beamed happily at the remembrance of it.

"Ladies, ladies! Gather up," Zachary started collecting them, interrupting their little powwow. "We'll be heading to the hotel you'll be staying in, and you guys will get the first date card tonight. Tomorrow, the dates start, got it?"

A chorus of excited "yeahs!" greeted him and everyone followed him and Lisa out of the airport and to the waiting bus. It wasn't long until they reached the hotel and then were being shown their suites.

"This is nice," Georgina noted in awe, looking around the hotel suite they were in. Though there were two suites to accommodate the twenty women that were left, all of them were currently hanging out in one.

"It was built by Cyrus Industries, right?" Meghan whistled. "They sure know how to design. So that means this place belongs to Cyrus Akagi, huh?"

Ash nearly choked on the orange juice she'd been drinking. That was a name she hadn't heard in a while…

"I wonder if Giovanni knows him," one of the women wondered. "I mean, not just in business or anything –I know I've seen news of their business dealings, but I wonder if they've ever interacted outside of business."

Ash was tempted to ask Giovanni if he and Cyrus had ever clashed with their Teams, when she heard the other asked that question. Cyrus had come out as the boss of Team Galactic, but as she heard and had been a part of, he'd gotten off mostly scot free.

Before anything more could be said, there was a knock and Topher came in with a big grin and the camera crew behind him. He held up the date card.

"For you, my darlings! Enjoy," he laughed lightly and winked at them. He handed it to the closest one and then saluted before leaving. The date card was immediately opened and looked at, and read aloud for everyone to hear.

"Let's blast off into space, Harley," was read out and Ash nearly burst out into laughter. However, she kept her face neutral and bit her lip to stop herself from guffawing. That jerk –oh she knew where he took the line from and exactly what was going through his mind when he'd picked that to put on the date card.

Giovanni was probably laughing inwardly if he wasn't sniggering out loud.

"Ooh, I'm so excited!" Harley squealed. "I get to have the one-on-one!"

"Sounds space-y," Ash grinned at her.

"You think I'll get to go into space?" Harley joked.

Meghan raised an eyebrow. "Knowing him? It's not impossible."

Harley flushed red, eyes widening while Ash nodded in agreement. It would be like Giovanni to –he was rich enough and had enough connections to do so (well, she was also sure he even had his Team build shuttles and rockets themselves), and he was egotistical and enough of a show-off to do it.

"We should sleep," Janelle cut in, eyes narrow. "New day tomorrow and all," she huffed, before turning her back and walking away from them all.

Rue rolled her eyes. "Oh, she's just pissed that she didn't get the one-on-one."

Murmurs of agreement echoed in the room, but they did start to disperse and were getting ready for bed. Ash followed suit, getting sleepy herself. Once she got into her bed, she was out like a light.

* * *

The morning dawned bright and early and the women slowly made it into the main suite, getting breakfast and generally waking up. Then things got buzzing and the women abruptly fully woke up once there was a knock on the door and it was opened to Giovanni. He smiled suavely at everyone, entering into the room and apologizing for intruding so early.

"It's not a problem," Georgina fluttered her eyelashes at him.

Ash watched Giovanni carefully, almost smirking when she saw the twitch at the corner of Giovanni's eyes. He was a good actor, but she could almost swear that she knew him enough to know at least some of his tells and when he was acting or doing his best to act civil or charming. Besides, it was pretty well known that he had a caustic personality…

She almost started sniggering at her thoughts.

"Shall we?" Giovanni asked, holding out his arm for Harley, who had awoken first of the ladies and excitedly gotten ready. The poor girl looked ready to scream in excitement.

Once they were heading out, Giovanni's eyes briefly met Ash's and he had an unfathomable gaze she couldn't decipher, before he was gone and she was left blinking in mild confusion.

"Ah, looks like we get to just laze away and be bored until the other date card comes. I wonder who's on the group date and who gets the next one-on-one," Leigh sighed.

Awkwardly, the women looked around. Ash shrugged. "Nothing else to do. Called dibs on the shower," she tacked on mischievously, giggling as she ran from them.

An hour later, all cleaned up, Ash had gotten drawn into the collective boredom. Then there was a knock and all of the women left there perked up and watched the door eagerly. One of them got up and answered the door and was nearly bowled over by a pink and blue blur.

"Ash Ketchum! I want a rematch!"

Ash gawped in shock, while behind said blur (revealed to be the one and only Maylene of the Veilstone Gym, once she'd stood still to point a figure at Ash grinningly), Wesley, Zachary, Lisa, and Roger appeared in a rush.

"Excuse me, but you're trespassing and interrupting production," Lisa said sharply.

Maylene practically had a question mark hovering over her head. "Huh? What are you talking about? And I'm just here to challenge Ash to a rematch."

The word rematch resounded in Ash's brain and she pumped a fist into the air. Boredom alleviated! "I accept!" Ash shouted, reaching to her waist to filch a pokéball from her belt, only to grasp at nothing. Then she remembered and pouted. "Er, sorry, Maylene, I've got no pokémon on hand…"

Maylene looked at her in surprise. "What? _You_  with no pokémon?"

"Again, I'm sorry," Wesley interrupted, stepping in front of Maylene and grabbing her attention. "We're in the middle of filming, so you can't be here."

"I'll visit your gym after this whole thing is over," Ash spoke up.

"Gym?" Zachary caught on. "You wouldn't happen to be part of the gym here in Veilstone, would you?"

Maylene stared. "Well, yeah. I'm the gym leader."

That drew everyone's interest, and the befuddled reactions from the ladies echoed the new concentration coming from the producers.

"Well, unfortunately, you still can't be here unless you're going to be part of the show and create something for the group date or the one-on-one," Roger told her.

Maylene scratched the back of her head. "Group date? Sorry, I'm still lost. What's going on?"

Lisa stepped towards her and began to explain that they were filming the reality show and what was happening, which caused the gym leader to start laughing herself silly. Wiping a tear from her eye, Maylene nodded.

"Alright. I can set up something for the girls to participate in," the pinkette grinned. "Let me know when you guys want it done and it'll be set up in no time."

She looked at Ash then, lips twitching wildly up. "Good luck,  _Ashy_ ," she snickered, making Ash huff in mild irritation.

When she left, the producers following her so they could talk details, the women rounded on Ash.

"Did you know that crazy girl?" Meghan asked her curiously.

Ash nodded. "Yeah. That's Maylene, Veilstone Gym's gym leader. When I was traveling through Sinnoh, she was one of the gym leaders I befriended and battled for a badge. She's into fighting, so I'm guessing if she's involved, the group date is probably going to center around fighting somehow."

Speaking of Maylene, she and Korrina were really alike. One of these days, she'd have to introduce the two…

* * *

And Ash was right, given that she and the others were now at Maylene's gym and being set up for a fight tournament. Leigh was the lucky one to get the other one-on-one date and get out of this, but at least they weren't actually being set up to fight each other. Instead, they were going to be learning how to do a kata set, to which whoever memorizes and performs the best wins the "tournament." Giovanni looked highly amused, and judging by the laughing look he sent her, he had probably guessed that this was all her fault somehow.

Unfortunately, though she did well, Ash lost out to Rue and Janelle, who had gotten second and first place respectively. She was, a little, surprised about Janelle, but the redhead looked determined to win. Ah, well, it was Ash's mistake for getting distracted by the quick glimpse of the new pokémon Maylene had apparently gotten and had been hovering to the sides.

"Well done, ladies," Giovanni complimented them all, as they headed out of the gym and were walking as a group to the place where they were going to talk and relax, and where the group date rose was inevitably going to be fought over. "That was quite strenuous, wasn't it?"

Ash kept quiet while everyone chattered, but then another familiar face came across them. To her surprise and horror, it was her that he saw first and instantly recognized, calling out to her.

"Ash Ketchum?"

The blue-haired commander of Team Galactic walked towards them, smiling slightly and waving in a subdued manner. Looks were sent over to her from the others, and she sort of shrunk in on herself.

"Ah, hi, Saturn!" she made herself greet though.

Saturn glanced around at the group, not hiding his curiosity in the slightest. When his eyes alighted on Giovanni though, a look of recognition crossed his face. Ash wondered whether or not he knew Giovanni was the leader of Team Rocket, or if he simply recognized him as the infamous business tycoon.

"Mr. Rocketto," Saturn greeted politely. "I apologize if I'm interrupting. I just saw Miss Ketchum and wanted to greet her and say a few things."

"Go ahead," Giovanni smiled, and it looked normal, but Ash instinctively could just tell that something was off about it.

Saturn then turned to Ash with a surprisingly soft, affectionate smile. "I just wanted to thank you –not only on behalf of myself and Team Galactic, but on Cyrus' behalf. Without your interference and defeat of the Team, we would not have learned the error of our ways. Cyrus has also said many times that he wished to thank you, most especially for saving him."

Ash's face had turned bright red while Saturn had been talking. She didn't know what to say or how to respond, but she didn't have to as she was interrupted by Janelle.

"I'm sorry, but what exactly happened and what did she do?" she asked incredulously and Ash blushed.

Saturn smiled slowly. "A few years ago, back when Miss Ketchum was traveling Sinnoh, she encountered Team Galactic, back in our villainous days, several times and foiled our plans more often than not. More importantly, during the old Team Galactic's final days and the climactic battle that our plans were leading up to, Miss Ketchum personally saved Cyrus from a fate worse than death."

Ash protested. "I didn't do much really! He was about to go leap into an unknown, unstable portal thing, and there was no way I was just going to let him go do something dumb like that! Which I was right –Dialga and Palkia ended up destroying that thing, and he could've been stuck in there or destroyed along with it. And anyone would've done that." Saturn gave her a flat look at that, though Ash turned away awkwardly.

"Palkia? Dialga?" Meghan asked, paling.

Saturn nodded. "Oh yes, they were about to cause much a damage to this world because of my Team, but Miss Ketchum, though she protests, did quell their rage and minimized the damage that could've happened."

But then questions were starting to blurt out and Ash wanted to bury herself into the ground and hide. Somehow or other, she was reeled into retelling the whole thing with Saturn, and it was making her uncomfortable how the others were gaping at her or staring in disbelief. A glance at Giovanni saw that he was gazing at her intensely and she couldn't figure out what was going through his head.

However, soon Saturn had to leave and he apologized again for his interruption before going. Then it was just the group again, filled with discomfited silence.

"How about we keep going?" Zachary suggested and Ash had forgotten about the cameras and the production crew. She wanted to groan aloud.

The group started walking, but it was still silent. So Lisa spoke up and prodded them into talking, suggesting discussing the group date. They did so, even if it was stilted, but Ash didn't know if she should keep to herself or pretend nothing had happened and join in. In the end, she ended up quiet until they reached their destination and sat around, getting drinks and finger foods, while each of the women took their turns with Giovanni.

"Ash, can I speak to you?" Giovanni came to her after a time, startling her out of her thoughts. Feeling like she was being called out, she nodded meekly and stood from her seat. A quick glance at the others showed them with their eyes averted and not looking at them. She had a feeling that her time with Giovanni was definitely not going to be in danger of being interrupted.

They sat somewhere off to the side and Ash rubbed her neck unsurely. Giovanni cleared his throat.

"Are you okay?" he asked softly and she gave him a surprised look.

"Okay? Uh, I guess. Why'd you ask?"

Giovanni frowned. "You've been quiet this whole time, ever since Saturn came around. I mean, you were quiet earlier, but you looked alright. But after that little surprise visit by him, you've looked bothered."

She had? She hadn't noticed at all. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize," she grimaced. "I guess I hadn't really thought or realized that kind of stuff would pop up. To be honest, it's not like I really mind or want to keep it hidden or something like that. It's just that it's…just really weird stuff that's happened in my life? Not really things I'd talk about or just bring up?"

"Really?" he asked curiously.

His hand grabbed onto one of hers and was caressing her knuckles, making her cheeks flush slightly. She bit her lip before she scooted closer to him shyly, making him quirk his lips up a little before he wrapped his other arm around her.

"Um, yeah," she murmured. "I just…I have a tendency to run into the Teams of each region every time I go to one." For a moment, her eyes glittered at him. "For instance, while I was in Kanto, Orange Islands, and Johto, I was plagued by Team Rocket."

She could see him straining not to laugh, and she smiled widely for a second before she became awkward again. "But from further out, outside from a certain Team Rocket trio, I've run into the other Teams too, and I've never really had a normal pokémon journey. It's always been hectic and sometimes life-threatening. I mean, the Teams are one thing, but I'm always prone to running into Legendaries too, you know? And let me tell you, it is  _not_ smart messing with them. So to all the Teams that keep doing so…it's just a dumbass plan," she said bluntly. "Never mess with Legendaries," she declared.

Giovanni raised an eyebrow, though he looked uneasy for a moment. "I'll remember that," he coughed.

Still, he brought her hand to his lips and brushed them against it. He squeezed her hand.

"Hold on for a moment, alright?" he said softly. He stood up and left her, and she wondered what he was doing. But then he came back with a rose and her eyes widened. "I really appreciate you talking to me and telling me about all this," he told her. "I had no idea that your life was so…"

"Crazy?" she offered.

"Dangerous," he said instead. "The thought of you getting hurt bothers me, but I'm glad you were comfortable enough to share that part of your life with me. Would you accept this rose?"

"Of course," she smiled quirkily at him, accepting it.

The kiss to her cheek caught her off guard, but wasn't unwelcome. She was almost tempted to turn her head and…

Ash cleared her throat, blushing again. "Thank you," she murmured.

She really was losing herself to this show.

* * *

Having a rose was a relief, but now she had to wait with the others while Leigh went on her one-on-one. In fact, back to being bored, Ash was contemplating taking a nap (even though it was evening already) while she was idly braiding Meghan's hair. Harley was being caught up to what happened yesterday, which Ash tried to ignore and pretend wasn't happening just right next to her.

There was a knock on the door and they all looked at each other. Georgiana got up and opened it, showing a wide-eyed Lisa.

"Ash, you have a visitor."

A visitor?

But they weren't generally allowed to see others unless –oh. So this was something they were hoping to film and was probably because it was sort of big or an interesting thing. Or both.

Ash took a deep breath and then quickly tied up Meghan's hair, before she got up and headed towards Lisa. The door closed behind her ominously. Following behind Lisa anxiously, she was about to ask who was it when she was shown to a room and the question died on her lips. There, standing uncomfortably in front of the cameras while he waited, was the tall figure of Cyrus Akagi.

She stopped short and stared, only going forward when she was nudged gently from behind. Looking behind her, she saw Wesley gesture to Cyrus and she winced. Bolstering herself, she went forward.

"L-long time no see, Cyrus?" she greeted hesitantly.

He turned and faced her, his serious face briefly looked self-conscious, before he straightened up.

"I heard from my subordinate that you were in town," he said lightly. He glanced around. "Though I'm not sure why or what all this is, I wanted to come see you."

"Yeah? I haven't seen or talked to you for years now, since I was last in Sinnoh. How have you been?" Ash smiled lightly, determined not to be weird about this. He came all this way to see her, so she should be considerate and act as normal as she could with him.

"I'm fine, thank you," he said quietly. "You look well. I'm glad."

Ash nodded slowly, trying to figure out what he was getting to and what he wanted.

Cyrus sighed before he came closer, standing right in front of her. He took one of her hands and held it aloft between them.

"Ash, I know that Saturn thanked you on my behalf, but I wanted to come here to see you personally. First, to apologize for pretending to be someone I wasn't before, and to have befriended you on false circumstances. And secondly, to not just thank you for saving me before I could have –for all intents and purposes –have ceased to exist on this plane and probably the other…but to thank you for  _saving_  me. Without meeting you and having your interference and influence, I would have kept on being the same cynical, nihilistic madman I've been for most of my life. You changed me into a better person. You saved me from myself. For that, I thank you and am indebted eternally."

Ash froze internally and outwardly, not sure what to say or do. She opened her mouth several times, before closing it and just giving a weak smile.

"Cyrus, I…I don't really know what to say. Just…you're welcome. And don't waste your second chance, okay? I'm glad you're living for a better future."

He nodded solemnly before taking a step forward and embracing her.

"Thank you," he said once more.

* * *

"Are we filming this? Please tell me we're filming this?" Roger hissed at the others. "Oh my God, are we allowed to put this on air? Please say yes."

"We're filming and on the contracts, this kind of thing is contractually expressed to be part of the show if caught on tape," Lisa gave a large grin. "Pretty sure we can get him to okay his appearance too."

"This is fantastic," Roger swooned. "Just think, if she is the Bachelorette, he'll  _have_  to be on her season. Imagine that –Cyrus Akagi! Having dated Giovanni and going on to have Cyrus as a potential suitor? Her season will be legendary! And not to mention the fact that this season really is full of drama and shocks and twists we usually boast each season would have –the other seasons have nothing on this one, and probably Ash's, once she makes Bachelorette."

Lisa frowned. "I don't know. I kind of really, really ship Giovanni and Ash now. I mean, it'll be great for us and the show if she does become the Bachelorette. But I do like her ending up with Giovanni in the end."

"Either way, this season is golden," Zachary crooned.

Wesley stayed silent, glancing at his fellow producers and then the duo still locked in an embrace.

Started 7/11/17 – Completed 7/22/17


	12. What a Wicked Game You Play

Giovanni and Leigh had entered the hotel when he had the first feeling of something wrong –one look at a hidden Rocket agent said it all. As soon as his eyes landed on them, they nervously turned and hid their face, pretending to rearrange a bouquet of flowers in a vase on a nearby table.

He led Leigh to the elevator, letting her go and bidding her a goodnight as she was escorted up by a crew member, before glancing coolly to the side. Zachary was there, waiting and looking as nervous as the Rocket agent.

"Is something the matter?" he plastered a smile on his face.

"Um…not really?" Zachary said weakly, sounding like he was more asking than saying.

Wesley appeared, looking more collected than his colleague. He smiled professionally at Giovanni.

"Nothing's the matter. We just have a guest come on the show and who asked to talk to you."

Giovanni briefly frowned, but nodded in acquiesce. He followed the two to one of the setups they had in a reserved room and nearly visibly balked at seeing Cyrus Akagi there, sitting on an armchair with a leg crossed over the other and looking bored. But at seeing him, he slowly uncrossed his leg and stood up.

The two of them stared stoically at each other.

Giovanni was well aware of the cameras rolling, but he didn't give a fuck. Right now, his blood was boiling. He still quite clearly remembered what had happened and was said when Saturn came, and also what Ash had told him. This man had never been a big threat to him as a Team Boss (none of the others ever had), but right now…

Cyrus  _was_  a threat in a way he couldn't tolerate.

He was mindful that, as he had been confronted with a situation in which he realized someone might have feelings for her (as he could  _hear_  it without it being outright stated by Saturn), things between Cyrus and Ash had been much more convoluted, at least on Cyrus' side.

When someone saves your life and humanity, he didn't doubt someone like Cyrus would want to see and be with this person that had saved him.

"Cyrus," Giovanni smiled dangerously. "I apologize, but I won't be able to do business with you. I'm actually in the middle of something."

"I know your situation," Cyrus replied in a monotone voice that grated on his ears. "I'm not here to do business."

"Then what, pray tell, are you here for?" Giovanni's lips was nearly into a snarl, but he barely restrained himself.

"I know that Ash Ketchum is a… _contestant_  on this show to attempt to date you," Cyrus scowled. "I wish her all the happiness if that's what she truly wants."

Truly wants! Why this little…

"You don't sound so enthused by that," Giovanni said mockingly.

"I'm not," Cyrus admitted bluntly, which actually surprised Giovanni (as well as everyone else in the room). "If I had any notion of what she would want in a partner, I would have approached her first. That's why, if this does not work out for her, I will be more than willing to snatch her up."

Giovanni inwardly bristled, trying not to react. He knew that his expression had darkened however, but he made it clear up. In a moment, he was smiling though.

"That's good. I care for her and would want her to be happy, no matter what happens. If that's all, until next time, Cyrus," he said, for all intents and purposes, kindly.

Cyrus eyed him suspiciously before nodding and then walking away, leaving the room. The moment he did and the cameras cut, Giovanni whirled around to face the producers, face darkened scarily and spooking them.

"Did he see Ash?" he asked angrily.

"Y-yes," Zachary answered, though he'd been elbowed several times by Lisa.

"Where's the footage?" he asked demandingly.

"We can't show you it," Wesley said, staying firm though he was as intimidated by the others at Giovanni's more aggressive nature coming out. "Policy –we don't show footage of the others if you're not involved in the scene. The same goes for the other contestants."

"How about her reaction video? Did she have one?" Giovanni grilled them, and he was practically looming over them at this point, causing Lisa to squeak.

"Same conditions," Wesley said, still not bending.

Giovanni narrowed his eyes at them and it was a tense silence for a moment. Then Giovanni huffed and backed off.

"C-can we have your reaction video to this meeting though?" Roger dared to ask. At Giovanni's irritable glare, he gulped. "…Please?"

"Very well," Giovanni said tersely and they quickly set up.

As soon as the camera started rolling, Giovanni's jaw clenched. He let loose on a string of angry Italian sentences that no one understood, before he sighed and seemed to become thoughtful.

"I'm jealous," he said suddenly. His eyebrows furrowed. "I did actually realize this earlier, when I first saw him in the room. But now it's…much more palpable to me, thinking about it. I've never really been  _jealous_  before…"

He frowned to himself before he started to roughly rub his hands on his face several times. When he stopped, he stood up and untangled the wire from him.

"I can't do this right now," a tinge of bitterness escaped in his tone. He threw the microphone wire to the floor and walked away, exiting the room and leaving behind a quiet hush.

"Scary," Zachary muttered, shivering.

"Ah, but it's getting much more serious for him," Lisa said, pleased (though she was still unsettled a little bit too).

"We should leave him be for the night and check on him tomorrow," Wesley decided.

* * *

Pissed, Giovanni entered his room in an angry fit, throwing his door open and slamming it close. He went to the alcohol cabinet and grabbed the nearest bottle, grabbing a shot glass next and filling it to the brim. He tossed it back and almost drunk it all down when there was a knock on the door.

"I don't want to be bothered!" he yelled out.

It was quiet before an unexpected voice jolted him out of his angry state. "Sorry! I'll see you tomorrow."

In a panic, he strode over to the door and hurriedly opened it, yanking the unsuspecting Ash into his room. She blinked and then stared up at him in shock.

"Er, you okay?" she asked awkwardly.

"No," he said frankly. "Did you see Cyrus earlier?"

Her eyes widened. "Yeah? I mean, the producers pulled me out of the room and told me I had someone who wanted to talk to me, and I was surprised by his visit. Why?"

Giovanni opened his mouth and then stopped, realizing he didn't know what to say. It's not like it was her fault the other man had come there and he wasn't upset at her in the first place. He took a deep breath and shook his head.

"Sorry, I was just in a bad mood," he muttered.

"Was that an apology?" she teased. "Oh wow, I get an apology from the big bad Rocket Boss~ Not that I know what it's for."

He waved it off. "Never mind that. How'd you get here?  _Why_  are you here? I'm pleased to see you though, after being so riled up. I feel less upset."

"Glad to help," Ash said and plopped herself tiredly onto a couch. "It was such a long day," she sighed. She looked at him curiously. "I was wandering around the hotel. I was bored and we're at least allowed to walk around the hotel at certain areas, so I was just walking and saw you storm into your room. Thought I'd come see what's wrong. Date go sideways?"

He forced a small smile. "It went alright. A bit boring, but nothing stressful. I had an unexpected encounter earlier, is all."

Though she looked at him questioningly, he didn't go into specifics. She sighed and crossed her arms behind her head.

"I miss my pokémon, especially Pikachu," she groused. "I got distracted by Maylene's new pokémon so I crapped out on the kata set she was trying to teach us yesterday. At least Wesley let me borrow his phone the other day, and I got to talk to Pikachu."

"Is that allowed?" he asked in amusement, cradling his drink but not drinking it as he came to sit near her.

"Nope," she grinned at him. "He said to keep it secret. Why? You gonna rat me out?" she teased him again.

"No," he smirked. "I don't play by their rules all the time either after all." And then he filched a pokéball from his pocket and threw it. His Persian came out elegantly, landing on all fours neatly.

"Kyah! Persian!" Ash practically threw herself forward and hugged the startled feline, causing Giovanni's eyes to widen. He started forward in a panic, knowing his Persian's finicky and vicious nature, but then stared in shock as instead of scratching Ash away, Persian started to reciprocate her rubbing her cheek against his.

"Pokémon Whisperer," he accused, causing her to look at him in confusion. He really should pay more heed to Jessie, James, and Meowth's accounts of her…

"Lucky," Ash grumbled. "I wish I had my pokémon with me."

"Only a few more weeks left," he said with a laugh, but that made her just pout.

Psh. Like Cyrus could communicate so well with her like this.

* * *

The next morning, Ash was waylaid by Wesley while she and the others were getting ready for the Rose Ceremony.

"Yeah?" she asked and was confused when he gave her a strained smile.

"Yesterday was a doozy, huh?" he laughed uncomfortably. "So um, we were hoping you'd talk to Giovanni today, during the cocktail party?"

She stared. "What for?"

He sighed. "Well, Cyrus Akagi visited you yesterday, right? And well, wouldn't that be something you think you should bring up to Giovanni?"

Ash opened her mouth to tell him about last night, before she stopped herself. She had to remind herself that that wasn't actually really allowed, since no cameras were around and no one knew she'd gone there and seen him.

"Um, yeah, you're right," she said instead. "I guess that is something I have to bring up and talk to him about." Which she realized that she didn't fully do last night anyway; on second thought, she could now guess what had bothered Giovanni. He must've found out she'd seen Cyrus, which is why he'd asked her and seemed so agitated. But he also said he had an unexpected encounter and was why he was in such a bad mood anyway –could he have run into Cyrus?

"Did he see Cyrus yesterday?" she asked anxiously.

Wesley looked surprised. "Yeah," he admitted. "How'd you guess?"

"Gut feeling," she brushed it off, wincing. "This might be a tense talk, huh?" She was going to go ahead and guess that, even with their casual talk last night, that this was going to cause tensions. She wasn't going to have to act like they hadn't talked already because they hadn't really talked about this, and she wasn't sure if it was just going to be let go like it seemed like he had last night (though she hadn't known it).

Ugh.

"Wish me luck?" she said weakly, grinning halfheartedly.

"Good luck," he said sympathetically and then led her back so she could finish getting ready with the rest of the girls.

In a weird funk, Ash slapped on a dress and then flopped back onto a couch, staring up at the ceiling and was pouting. She didn't even notice when Meghan and Harley had commandeered her from the couch and set her in front of the mirror in the bathroom, where Meghan (the resident "makeup artist" that helped everyone out with their makeup) began to work on Ash's face. One of the other girls, who did alright with hair and was the designated hairstylist, worked on Ash's hair a bit.

"She's out of it," Rue noted.

"Wonder what the producer told her," Harley hmmed, snacking on some fruit.

"He got her yesterday too, I remember," Rue brought up, remembering that.

"Related issue?" Meghan speculated, finishing up with the makeup.

"Maybe," Rue answered.

Harley poked Ash's cheek. "You okay? We're going to have to go down pretty soon for the cocktail party."

Ash mumbled something none of them caught, but they traded looks and shrugged. One of them grabbed her and helped her up, before they all trailed out of the suite, joining others as they exited. Once in the assigned area where the cocktail party was taking place at, most of them sat on the couches while some meandered around or went to eat or get a drink.

When Ash finally sighed and looked around, brought back to her surroundings, she still hadn't gotten out of her anxious state.

"Welcome back," Rue teased and Ash gave her a deadpan look. "You alright?"

"I'm doomed," Ash declared and slumped against the couch she was sitting on. She looked around at the ladies gathered, seeing most of them there. She licked her lips and then nervously cleared her throat. "Uh, hey guys?"

"Yeah, Ash?" Melanie, if she remembered the other's name right, asked. There really was still so many women left…

Ash sat up slowly and tried not to grimace. "Um, so…I know I have the group date rose and everything," Arceus damn it, why were the cameras rolling? "I really need to talk to Giovanni," she tried not to mumble.

Janelle huffed, the red head cocking her hip sideways as she narrowed her eyes at Ash while crossing her arms. "And why's that? The rest of us still need time to talk to him!"

Ash fidgeted, more so as agreement from some of the others sounded around the room. "I might have gotten a visit from Cyrus," she revealed.

That shut everyone up, but instead now she was receiving wide eyes and looks of shock. Uncomfortably, she fidgeted even more.

"You mean  _Cyrus Akagi_?" Rue asked for the rest of them, just as much in shock.

Ash wrung her hands. "Yeah, that guy. He kind of, uh, surprised me yesterday, and I figure it's something I should let Giovanni know happened. I think?"

"Of course you should!" Harley burst out. "That's definitely something you should let the guy know happened. I mean, you should say something about it because…"

"Reasons?" someone said and then after a pause, everyone started to laugh.

After it was calm again, Leigh spoke out. "Well, for one, you don't want to look like you're hiding something, so yeah, that's one 'reason," she briefly smirked, "why you should say something about it."

"There's also that you're essentially dating Giovanni, and even if nothing happened or it was just nothing, you did end up seeing some other guy," Rue pointed out. "So best to get it out and stop misunderstandings from happening too."

"Speaking of, what  _did_  happen?" Georgina asked curiously. "And I guess that's why you were taken from the group last night, huh?"

At everyone's suddenly entirely too interested looks, Ash wanted to go and hide.

"Yeah, they said I had a visitor and it turned out to be Cyrus," Ash reluctantly kept talking. "He was there to basically repeat what Saturn said, just in person. He just really wanted to thank me himself. Um…he hugged me and then left."

"He hugged you?" Harley gasped.

"Yeah," Ash shifted awkwardly. "It was actually kind of an emotional moment and all…but it wasn't romantic!"

"You're sure about that?" Rue was in one of her thinking poses. "It sounds like, at the least, that he likes you."

Ash stared at her before shaking her head and chuckling. "No way –this is Cyrus. Even before I knew he was the boss of Team Galactic and was even sort of friends with him, he really didn't do the whole 'emotion' thing. And as the Galactic Boss, I basically spent the majority of my time in Sinnoh unknowingly being his enemy and ruining his plans and all."

Someone sang "Denial~!", while Rue gave her a look. "That Saturn guy said, and since you said Cyrus came over to say the same thing at him, that you more or less saved him from that path. So I think that whole Team Galactic point is moot."

"Shh, shh!" Harley suddenly interrupted, looking alarmed. "Giovanni and Topher's coming!"

At that, Ash did her best to try to sink herself into the couch, while the others tittered nervously and tried to look normal. As soon as Giovanni and Topher stepped around the corner and further into view, the women immediately shut up and stared at Giovanni. Giovanni raised an eyebrow and looked around, observing the tense and nervous state of the gathered ladies. Ash just tried to further sink into the couch and hope it'd swallow her up.

She didn't pay any attention to any pleasantries that happened as per usual of the beginning of the cocktail parties. However, a poke to her side made her look to see Harley giving her a look and gestured to Giovanni. Ash looked to her and then at the Rocket Boss. In doing so, she managed to catch sight of the other women giving her looks before glancing to Giovanni. She then saw him turn and look to her, almost in slow motion.

"Ash, can we talk?" he asked, surprising her and the others, though a few of the ladies were giving her thumbs up and trying to get her to go.

Okay, she may have gone to everyone to ask if she could talk to him, but now she just wanted to run away.

She stared at Giovanni like she was a pokémon about to be caught and didn't want to be.

"Bathroom!" she said, her voice going high. "I n-need to go to the bathroom!" She stood up and turned tail, running from the main room.

* * *

As soon as she'd reluctantly left the bathroom, she was found by Lisa and dragged to a room off to the side, where she guessed was where they were doing the interviews for the night.

"Okay, okay! I was a coward," she directed towards the camera, unknowingly pouting. "I mean, I didn't think the visit from Cyrus was a big deal, but then the others made it out like it was a big deal, so now I think it's a big deal, and then I don't know what to say to Giovanni anymore since it's apparently a big deal and I thought I was just going to be nonchalant and mention it casually to him but since it's really important and –I'M RAMBLING!"

Ash clutched at her hair and pulled. "Ugh! Why couldn't that stupid couch have swallowed me up and ended my misery like I wanted it to?" she bemoaned.

She quieted down, staring at the floor. She remembered the interview she had to do last night, after having met with Cyrus. The whole moment then  _had_ been a big deal and emotional, and she had felt deeply touched and heartened. But she was still shocked by Cyrus' words and actions, considering how much he used to despise emotion not too long ago, and she hadn't had any clue that had changed.

But she didn't realize it would be a big deal to Giovanni, until Wesley had brought it up to her and then the other girls had impressed it on her.

"I really don't know anymore," she said to the camera in confusion. "It was really such an emotional and important moment, but that it was between Cyrus and I. It was so honest and sincere, I guess I'm just having trouble trying to see what's wrong with it that I have to tell Giovanni urgently about it. Of course I don't want him upset about it or to think things…but it just felt like one of those private, heartfelt moments and I don't know if I would be breaking anyone's confidences. I guess what I'm saying is that I don't want to take something that was so pure and make it –or imply it to be, even in a roundabout way as a denial –something impure."

Nothing about the meeting had been wrong or suspicious in any way. That's why she hadn't thought it was something that was important to bring up to Giovanni. It took her off guard that it was something she was supposed to bring up and talk to Giovanni about though, and she just felt like she wasn't understanding why something so innocent and genuine could be construed into something upsetting.

"You okay?" Wesley asked, walking up to her and handing her a cold glass of water.

"No," she sighed. "I'm really confused and this whole thing is confusing. Not to mention that I really hadn't thought getting a visit from Cyrus and seeing him would become such a big deal." Ash was glad that the cameras were off at least.

"I see what you mean," he said. "But think of it as if you're dating Giovanni, which you technically are, but in the real world sense –just you and him as a couple, and not with other women or on a reality show. What would he think of you having an intimate, emotional moment with some other guy? Disregard the misunderstandings or suspicions that could come off that, as if you were cheating or was interested in someone else, and think more of how he would react to it as it just is –more or less a platonic moment, but still something that is undeniably very intimate and special with a man not him."

Oh. She didn't think of it like that. Even if Giovanni knew and understood it wasn't romantic, she could see that he might still be upset because she'd still had connected very closely with Cyrus then.

"I guess I should find him and finally talk to him, huh?" she said, knowing that it was the last thing she wanted to do.

She left the interview room, to which she managed to reach the area where the cocktail party was. She'd been debating whether or not to head straight to the main room, or to wander around and see if she could find him that way, when Rue found her and grabbed onto her.

"You have 15 minutes until the cocktail party is apparently over to talk to Giovanni," she said firmly.

"But –!"

"Everyone's talked to him already!" Rue said before shoving her in a direction, and Ash found herself stumbling into Giovanni's back.

He turned around and blinked at her. "There you are. Are you busy? I'd like to talk to you."

"O-okay," she said feebly and let him lead her to a more quieter and isolated area. There was a cameraman following them, but Ash was too busy with her nerves to really notice or care.

Once they'd sat down, Ash tensed up and couldn't help looking at Giovanni like she was about to face off against Arceus again.

"Are you okay?" he asked, already noticing her state.

She took a deep breath. "It was brought to my attention that there was something that happened yesterday that might actually be a big deal to you. Yesterday, I got a visit from Cyrus Akagi, who heard I was here and wanted to thank me personally. It was…I admit it went really, really emotional, but I swear it wasn't a romantic thing or anything. It was just…it was sweet and honest, and right then the two of us did have a moment, you could say."

He leaned back in his seat and tilted his head back, before sighing and facing her again. "I know. To be honest, I wasn't going to tell you this, but I'm assuming after he met with you, he waited for me and we ended up…talking as well."

That was a total surprise to her, even though she had sort of figured that out from her talk with Wesley earlier. If she put it together, that must be why she saw him storming into his room and what his bad mood was all about. So he really had run into Cyrus…

"You know, he basically said he liked you," he said, which caused her to stare at him in shock. "He told me that if it didn't work out with us, he wouldn't mind chasing after you."

Her mind felt frozen, while she couldn't even say or do anything then. Had he really said that to Giovanni?

"I'm glad that if this doesn't work out, you do have options available," Giovanni said, tone neutral. Then his face twisted and he shook his head. "That's a lie, because I really wouldn't be too glad –I  _want_  this to work out."

Right now, Ash didn't know how to respond. Most of the time, she knew when Giovanni was acting and just turning on the charm. Except she didn't know where the act and the truths began in this moment, and she was feeling like she was teetering on the edge of a cliff and about to fall.

He leaned over and grasped her face with both of his hands, and she was widely aware of the warmth of them and how nice it felt. But then he was placing his forehead against hers and she couldn't help the shiver that ran through her.

"I adore you,  _dolcezza_ ," he murmured. "I don't know how I can handle seeing you with anyone else. I want you to be happy, but the very thought of you with someone else is something I'm having trouble accepting. So right now I  _can't_."

This wasn't fair. She liked him and wanted to get to know him. Ash knew that and accepted that the moment she recognized how she felt on their first date, and then when she more or less told him at that cocktail party that seemed so long ago.

But this? This was too much. She liked him. Really liked him.

But she didn't want to fall in love.

Started 8/9/17 – Completed 8/23/17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I listen to "Wicked Game" too much. This song puts me in such a melancholy mood XD But it's funny I like practically every other version but the original by Chris Isaaks. I also wanted to start my two-parter, but unfortunately all this was taking up too much and I decided it had to become a separate chapter all on its own. That said –I hope everyone enjoyed this bitterly sweet chapter! Please remember to review, as I update and post for you guys and your reviews always put me in such a good mood~


	13. Pirates Ahoy!

Ash frowned, kicking her feet idly at the pool. The Rose Ceremony had gone by quickly and she was feeling a little…off. Strange.  _Weird_. The idea of falling in love with Giovanni wasn't something she was comfortable with. It wasn't just that he was the Rocket Boss, or that he was older than her. Those were still issues, but not really something she was particularly worried about. Despite being the boss of Team Rocket, she admitted she liked him and found he was funny and likable (and handsome, she reluctantly added). And for the age difference, she meant it when she told her mom and Sam that it didn't bother her –whether she meant about their relationship or for her own.

But that didn't mean she was okay just falling for someone who was supposed to be completely incompatible with her. Giovanni was a criminal (okay, so technically she'd broken the law herself a couple times –but breaking and entering, being a vigilante, etc. wasn't as bad as…whatever he does). He wasn't like her and they were just…different. He was also older, so even if she didn't have anything specifically against age difference, it didn't excuse the fact that he was more experienced and mature than she was. She worried that it would highlight even more of their differences and that she would be too childish and immature compared to him.

And she just wasn't okay with falling in love in general, especially with a guy like him.

She'd never fallen in love before. Despite what she'd been teased about from many, she hadn't had a crush on Gary. He teased her frequently back then and it had irritated and pissed her off. She really hadn't been interested in romance for the longest time, not even when she met Lance Wataru or Steven Stone. Lance had been a gentleman and she still kept in contact with him, but while she knew he was good-looking, she hadn't been interested in anything but having a pokémon battle with him and being excited over who he was. As for Steven Stone, it would definitely be impossible to ignore how handsome he was and he'd oddly flirted with her, but she hadn't gone gaga over him like many females did.

To be honest, she'd only really had that stupid, silly childish crush on Giovanni, but that was only because she had been an admirer and a fan (and he was stupidly good-looking) before finding out he was the boss of Team Rocket (okay, yeah, maybe she still did after finding out…). But aside from that, she hadn't really –

Well, there was Cyrus –no. She wasn't even going to touch that with a humongous flag pole, not after what happened just two day ago, back when they were still in Sinnoh.

"This is so nice~" Harley happily sighed. "Hoenn's so filled with beautiful beaches and the hotels are just scenic."

The hotel in Lilycove they were staying in had this huge indoor pool they were currently enjoying, and Ash continued to kick her feet in the water while deciding to force out anymore of her thoughts from her head.

"Date card!" Rue called out and everyone moved closer to her. Ash stayed where she was, since Rue had moved over to stand near her. "Georgina," Rue read aloud, causing said girl to giggle loudly. "It's time to prepare for trouble and make it double."

Ash almost fell into the water. Good thing she didn't start laughing or look it! It was just barely though, and she swore she was going to hit Giovanni upside the head the next time she saw him in private. Really!

"I should get ready," Georgina said happily. She rushed out and that's when everyone let themselves sulk. Ash felt a brief flare of jealousy that she pushed down.

"I would like to have a one-on-one with him," Janelle frowned.

Everyone eyed her irritably. When they first got to Lilycove, they'd rested a day and then the day after, Janelle had gotten a date card to go out with Giovanni. Honestly, she had a one-on-one already and she was still being unbearable to the rest of them.

Ash saw Harley (the normally bubbly girl had become increasingly agitated with Janelle as time past), start gearing up for a confrontation with the red head. The cameras were rolling, so she inwardly winced and acknowledged that this would probably become prime filming for the show.

Fortunately, things didn't start up as Giovanni came in and smiled charmingly at everyone. She was tempted to stick her tongue at him, but thought that for once she'd be grateful he came in time to stop a fight from starting.

"Good morning, everyone," he said smoothly. "Is Georgina here?"

"I-I'm here!" Georgina rushed back into the pool area, breathless as she jogged towards Giovanni's side. She smiled widely. "I'm ready to go!"

Again, Ash felt jealousy creep up on her and she irritably did her best to ignore it. But it was hard as she watched Giovanni calmly hold out his arm and Georgina accept it eagerly, before Giovanni greeted everyone goodbye. His eyes briefly went to her for moment, lingering before he left with Georgina out of there.

"I wonder what they're going to do," Leigh said. "It's probably something exciting. So far, all the dates with him –even group dates –have been extravagant and amazing."

"They outdid themselves this season," Harley nodded, impressed.

"To be honest, I think it's definitely a lot to do with Giovanni and his popularity," Rue added.

Ash bit her lip, wondering if she should say anything…

"I'm also pretty sure that Giovanni's adding on with his own money and his own people," she admitted to them. "He said he'd like to be able to plan things clearly and spoil his dates, and didn't want budget to be a concern."

There were giggles and murmurings amongst the group, while Ash looked them over. She caught sight of Janelle, who had a sly smirk and a glint in her eyes that made Ash start frowning again.

"Hey, ladies! How's it going?" Zachary came out with the others, and when she saw Wesley and he looked over to her, she gave a small wave that the producer reciprocated.

"We're going to be moving –"

And then all hell broke loose.

* * *

Wesley coughed, the smoke clearing as he got up slowly from the floor. His head throbbed from having been hit briefly by something, and as he looked around to make sure everyone was alright, he saw the group of women were likewise coughing and disoriented. His fellow producers were just getting up from the floor, while the cameras were thankfully intact and the production crew were in various states of disgruntlement.

"Everyone okay?" he called out.

"Just peachy, luv!" an unfamiliar woman's voice called out cheerily.

The smoke cleared completely and he saw that they were surrounded by people who wore blue and white pirate-ish outfits, and realized that they were the infamous Team Aqua.

"Weren't you disbanded?" Roger yelled out, glaring fiercely.

"Nah, we were just cruisin' in freedom and peace for a bit," a huge man, no shirt on at all, grinned rakishly at them. "We're eager for a little bit of trouble right now though."

A beautiful, exotic and bodacious woman stepped forward, smiling coyly. "We heard a certain trainer was in town and we're here to pick her up! Ain't that right, lassie?" she asked and Wesley just noticed Ash's tied up form next to the woman's feet.

"Mmph mmh!" Ash said through her gag, glaring up at the woman as she tried to wriggle free of the ropes.

"Don't you worry, lassie!" the huge man guffawed. "The boss'll be real happy to see you! Shelly, let's go!"

"Come on, you scallywags!" 'Shelly' shouted to the rest of her group. "Matty, pick 'er up and let's get out of here!"

"You can't take her!" Harley screamed, turning red in the face.

Shelly laughed at her. "Says you. Matt, I said hurry up and let's go!"

"Hey!" Wesley was furious. "We'll call the police!"

"Go right ahead!" Matt easily picked up the wriggling Ash, who tried to squirm and twist even more, but the big guy was able to keep a tight hold on her as he tossed her over his shoulder.

"I called the police and security is coming," Lisa whispered to him in a panic, but it was going to be too late.

As the ones there in the crew who had pokémon called theirs out, Wesley ran towards the retreating Shelly and Matt, who swung at him and easily knocked him down with a single punch to the face. Groaning, he shook himself and refused to just stay down. But by the time he got up, they were gone and the rest of Team Aqua were easily sweeping through their pokémon battles or were already escaping.

"Shit," he muttered to himself.

"Oh my God, did Ash just really get kidnapped?!" he heard one of the girls scream and he cursed again.

Feeling disheveled and probably looking it too, Wesley tried to reorganize things. "Everyone, calm down!" he shouted. "Ladies, it's best if you get back to your rooms, while the others and I sort this out. The police will be here soon and –"

"I'm not going anywhere," Rue said firmly. "I'm going to help get Ash back. She's become a good friend to me and I'm not just going to sit idly by, while these jerks have her holed up somewhere."

Wesley stared dumbfounded at the group, even as more of the ladies began voicing their agreements and looking like they were heading into dissent otherwise. Even Janelle was frowning and raising an eyebrow at him.

"We talk to the police first," he gathered himself, giving a hard look at the ladies. Then he turned to his fellow shaken producers. "Then we're getting out of here and searching for clues as to where Team Aqua is."

"That we can help with," he was interrupted, and they all looked to see a dark-red haired man walking towards him, wearing a burgundy coat and square glasses. He led a group of likewise burgundy dressed people, and with dread, he realized this was probably Team Magma. "My name is Maxie. We intercepted a call to the police about the kidnapping of Ash Ketchum by Team Aqua."

It was silent until… "How many Teams does Ash know?" one of the cameramen asked in disbelief.

"Probably all of them," a woman by Maxie's right grinned. "She has a tendency to run into all the Teams."

"Well hell," Lisa muttered. "She's really that much of a trouble magnet?"

"You have no idea," Maxie said wryly. "Courtney, you and Tabitha go alert some of the Team to get ready to infiltrate Team Aqua's ship. Who of you leads this group?" he directed towards the rest of them, looking over the producers mostly.

Wesley stepped forward. "I guess I am. What do you need us to do?"

Maxie looked to him and then the women, and then offered a slow-forming smirk.

"Would you like to pirate some pirates?"

* * *

Ash cursed her luck. She really did. Why did she have to have crappy luck all the time? Arceus damn it, she'd be less in trouble if she could have better luck.

"Damn fine to see you again, luv," the stocky, burly man grinned roguishly at her. Ash gave him a blank look. "Now, now, Asheila, it's been far too long! I miss my Pirate Queen."

"You know, I really should have expected this," Ash said in a deadpan tone. "Seriously. My luck is horrible. I should have known that every region I go to, I'm doomed to run into the Teams… _again and again and again_."

"Never mind that, luv," Archie laughed raucously. "I heard you're on this little dating show, hoping to get married."

"Engaged actually. The premise of the show ends in engagement," Ash grumbled.

Archie waved her off. "It's all the same thing. Anyway –I thought I'd save you the trouble," his roguish grin grew worse. "We're gonna go get married, my Pirate Queen!"

"Stop calling me that," she whined. Like he'd listen to her. He kept calling her that back when she was traveling in Hoenn and it seems to have persisted to this day. "And hell no we are not getting married."

He wasn't listening to her though, looking over to Shelly, who had come in right then.

"Got the wedding dress, Archie," Shelly looked gleeful.

"Perfect! Wrangle her in it and I'll be waiting at the front of the ship."

"Don't I get a say in any of this?" Ash asked in annoyance.

"No," both of them echoed, still cheerful.

"See you in a bit, my Pirate Queen," Archie winked at her before leaving.

Ash eyed Shelly. "No way to convince you to help me escape?"

"Haha, you're funny, lass! Now c'mere!"

It was only too short a time until Ash had been forced to the bow of the ship, where Archie stood waiting for her. Matt stood next to him, beaming like a goof, and there was a minister sweating buckets near them. Shelly made Ash shuffle forward, made extra hard by the fact her wrists were tied together and ankles had a short rope connecting them.

Dressed in his best, Archie looked as wedding-ready as Ash wanted to jump off the ship. She had a dark look on her face as she was pushed to the front, until she was standing in front of a widely grinning Archie.

"Ain't you a beaut, my lovely Pirate Queen~"

She almost told him she wasn't his Pirate Queen again, but she stopped herself. It wasn't like he was going to listen. She might as well save her breath.

"Let's start!" Archie barked out at the minister impatiently and the minister was flustered as he straightened up to start.

"We are gathered here today –"

And for the second time that day, there was a loud ruckus and then smoke filling the air. In exasperation, Ash was ready to just sit down in protest and forsake everything at this point.

She felt a tug at the back of her wedding dress, and she was stumbling backwards and into someone's arms. Tilting her head back, she blinked and nearly gaped at Wesley, who smiled slightly at her.

"So me and the others might have joined up with Team Magma –temporarily! –to come to your rescue," he told her in a whisper as he quickly led her away.

Glancing around with the smoke clearing up, she saw that Team Magma members were fighting Team Aqua eagerly.

"Over here, Wesley!" she heard Lisa, and looking over to the right, Ash saw the female producer waving them over hurriedly.

"The girls are piloting the mini submarine that Maxie leant us," Wesley whispered into her ear. "We'll be there soon."

Joining up with Lisa, who helped Wesley get Ash out of her bonds, the three of them located the mini-sub and entered into it. Ash, to her shock, saw the women bunched into there and fighting over how to operate the submarine. Zachary and Roger just stood off to the side, watching incredulously. The three headed over to them, getting noticed by them without any problem while the others continued to be distracted.

"Aren't you three supposed to be monitoring them and helping out?" Lisa asked in annoyance.

"I'm not touching that," Roger deadpanned.

"Yeah. Do you not see that chaos and vicious fighting?" Zachary snorted. "We'd be torn apart for interfering."

Ash stared at them before sighing. She turned to the women and put her fingers to her lips, whistling loudly and putting a stop to fighting.

"Home. Now," she ordered loudly.

She took control and directed them to their places, before taking charge of 'the wheel.'

"Hey, just curious, but how do you know how to pilot one of these things?" Zachary asked her.

"I learned through trial by error after stealing one from Team Magma, back in the days where I was traveling Hoenn and apparently foiling Team Magma and Team Aqua's plans for world domination."

"…"

"Oh my God, what do you  _get into_?" Harley yelled.

Ash sighed. "It's a long, long story."

Started 9/8/17 – Completed 9/11/17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! How's it going? I'm trying to double time for this fic, in order to finish the first arc for the Pokémon Watties. Hope you guys liked this chapter and please remember to review! They always motivate me to write more and faster :D Without them, I get all mopey~
> 
> Quick Points:
> 
> 1\. Pandora Pairings Forum: Rare pair forum I created that has lots of challenges, so check it and subscribe please! I'm going to be adding quite a bit of stuff to it this week.
> 
> 2\. The Regions Legends: If you like Pokémon, this is my collab account with a few friends of mine. Please check it out and fav, alert, and review! I'm personally in charge of "The Book of Ash", "The Book of Eve","The Book of Mal", and "Kitty Claws."I'd really appreciate it as we don't have any real attention and I've updated several times and haven't gotten any reviews for some past chapters, which is disappointing. So please take a bit of time to read and drop some reviews. I will definitely be updating "Kitty Claws" tomorrow at least.
> 
> 3\. "All the Lies That's Been Said": is my newest Pokémon story –it's a three-shot and is slash, but it's less focused on romance and more on the domestic violence subject. There is some Shattershipping though! I would really appreciate if you guys go check it out and hopefully drop a review?
> 
> 4\. Pat-reon (FFN doesn't like this site or something, won't ever let me post the name of the site so I skewed the name): I've finally gotten started on this and actually added some original content on there. You can check it out, for now what I have is stuff open to the public, but I will start to begin to add in stuff just for patrons. But the Prologue to my first original story is there. Stuff that's public there will also be posted on my Wattpad, but yeah -soon my is going to have a lot of my notes and chapters for my original stories and probably some fanfic stuff.


	14. Play Nice With the Mice

She'd been prodded into telling everyone the whole gist of her journey through the regions…which meant almost everything was pried out of her. Her whole 'it's a long story' excuse wouldn't fly by anyone, and they all insisted that there was more than enough time for her to recount it.

Honestly, by the end of it, she and everyone else didn't know how she managed to fit everything. It really  _was_  a long and very weighty story. A lot of stuff happened after all.

"I'm exhausted from all this," Lisa practically dropped to the floor of the submarine.

"I'm tired just from hearing all that," Zachary let out a huge sigh.

"Are we going to be seeing these three idiot Rocket members you always see?" Harley asked hesitantly.

"Arceus, I hope not," Ash face palmed. She'd kill Giovanni if that happened.

"You didn't tell us everything, did you?" Wesley raised an eyebrow at her.

"Nope," she said unrepentantly. "Just about the Teams. Seriously, if I told you guys  _everything_ , we'd probably be here for hours. And some of it is just out of the world crazy kind of thing."

"This would make for a good movie," Roger mused aloud and Ash stared at him in horror.

"No…just no."

"I don't know," Rue started, smiling in amusement. "It actually does sound like a good movie or television show."

Ash was saved from answering to that, minus a twitching glare, by the fact they'd reached land and were now in the middle of 'parking' the submarine. Once they got out, Ash was suddenly ambushed.

A huge bouquet of roses were shoved into her face, which she irritably pushed aside to find a dramatically kneeling Maxie.

"My beloved darling! I hope you are well after having been in close quarters with that brute," Maxie beamed at her.

Ash stared at him blandly.

"In any case," he stood up sheepishly, shoving his glasses further onto his nose. "I am pleased to see you well and…unmarried," his smile became strained for a moment.

"Thank you, Maxie. I appreciate you helping everyone and getting your Team to fight Team Aqua, and stopped my unfortunate and untimely marriage to Archie," Ash forced out, giving him a fixed smile. "Now, we're leaving."

"What? You can't leave just yet," Maxie said in distress. "Why don't you stay for a bit –"

"PIIIIIKAAACHUUUU!"

Maxie was instantly fried and twitching on the floor, with Pikachu appearing and standing atop his body triumphantly.

"Pika!" he threw up a v-sign along with a playful grin.

"So, uh, I got Ash's Pikachu," Topher said hesitantly. "But uh, what did I miss and what's going on?"

Ash ignored him, while Roger and Lisa pulled him aside to catch him up and tell him why Lisa had called him to go to Pallet urgently and retrieve said Pikachu. Instead, she looked at her Pikachu in exasperation.

"Why're you dress like a Yakuza?"

Pikachu laughed nervously. "Pika pika?"

Ash sighed and took off the sheathed, short blades by his sides. She held them up and shook her head.

"No sharp blades in public for attacking. That's why you have Iron Tail and Thunderbolt for. These are for cosplay and home use," she told him firmly.

"I'd like to know why she even got her Pikachu short swords," Zachary muttered, watching the pair.

"Can we please head back to the hotel?" Ash asked, ready to just collapse onto a bed.

"Yes, please," the other women echoed her.

"Agreed," Wesley said, feeling exhausted too.

Thankfully, the group began the slow march back, leaving behind Maxie still on the floor.

* * *

Giovanni came back to the hotel, feeling like he was about to just yank his hair out. Though his face was normal and he continued to smile charmingly at Georgina, the whole day had been trying.

She wasn't the easiest woman of the group for him to be around.

An exhaustion seemed to seep into him, and he was close to practically just pushing her away and just storming up the rest of the way to his room.

But to his concern and shock, he found that everyone seemed to have grouped up in the main lobby, looking like they were tired out as hell and were all just sprawled on the floor and the couches. He was especially worried when he found Ash, having already passed out on an armchair and laying on it sideways.

"I just want to sleep it off," Harley complained.

"Me too," Lisa seconded grumpily.

"What on earth happened?" he asked, letting go of Georgina (thank Arceus) and striding forward.

Immediately, everyone's (except Ash) attention went to him and the ladies sat up, trying to look normal and smiling nervously at him. The producers were just staring at him in shock (and horror?).

"Ha…ha…haha," Zachary started out, the stilted laughter making Giovanni even more nervous. "N-never mind that. Let's just get to bed and go to sleep. It's a new day tomorrow! Time to rest up!"

Zachary stood up quickly and was the first to practically run out of there. To his consternation and further worry, everyone else followed suit. Before he could reach Ash, Wesley got to her first, picking her up and looking at Giovanni with a nervous smile.

"I'll, um, take her to the rooms and set her in bed. Goodnight, Giovanni. See you tomorrow!"

Giovanni was left feeling as if something had happened that he wasn't privy to, and it wasn't making him happy at all. He  _will_  get to the bottom of this…

He scowled heavily and stormed up to his room like he'd wanted to earlier.

And when the morning came, he wasn't feeling any better, especially with the crew being all jittery around him. His own Rockets were confused and he wondered if it had been a good idea for him to have allowed most of them to report back to the Rocket base nearby. He would have been able to find out what had happened had he kept them in the hotel, with a select few trailing after him, if his Team had been present and not trying to keep on the down low. The ones that had been present at the hotel wouldn't keep eye contact with him, which made ire rise more.

"What is going on?" he forcibly stopped the four main producers, staring coldly down at them.

Roger gaped while Lisa and Zachary shivered and backed away from him. Wesley uncomfortably shifted in place.

"We'll talk about it later," Wesley hesitantly said. "We've got the group date coming up and you need to be focused on that. Afterwards….afterwards, we'll catch you up."

Giovanni continued to give them a hard stare for a few more moments, before he was reluctantly conceding.

"After," he said firmly. "…Or else," the look on his face darkened.

The producers tried to subtly continue moving away.

* * *

As he traveled with the ladies on the group date, there was an undertone of anxiousness. He watched them all chatting amiably and yet he still couldn't shake off the feeling that they had been involved in whatever had happened. His eyes continually drifted to Ash, who caught him once, and had given him a small smile that didn't seem as bright and happy as her usual smiles.

He wasn't all too keen on waiting after the group date to find out what happened.

Eventually, he managed to get through the group date to afterwards, where he was spending time with all the ladies and talking to them. In all honesty, he just wanted to find Ash and talk to her, and see if she knew anything about what happened to make them all subdued and anxious. If she didn't, well at least he was spending time with her and talking to her.

Janelle currently was by his side and he listened with half an ear, watching her face and making sure he looked like he was at least listening to her.

"Janelle," he started, getting an idea. "I'm a little worried about everyone today." Mostly true since he was, though his worry also tended to gravitate towards Ash, along with him just being uneasy at how everyone was acting and him not knowing what was going on. "I'm not sure what happened or why."

Janelle let out a sigh, leaning onto him and holding onto his arm.

"You wouldn't  _believe_  the day we had yesterday. It all started after you left with Georgina…"

And then he was listening to the events with mounting fury and worry.

As soon as he managed to shake her off, he went around looking for Ash. To his luck, she was alone in a corridor and walking in a direction away from the group.

"Ash!"

Turning to him, she blinked in shock as she stopped short. He ignored that as he grabbed her shoulders and looked her over with a critical eye.

"Giovanni?" she asked in confusion.

"Are you okay?" he asked demandingly, feeling increasingly agitated. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

"N-no! Why are you asking?" she asked in alarm.

He looked her over one last time, before scowling and continuing past her. He whipped out his communicator and spoke into it angrily.

"All available units, report to my location," he hissed.

"G-Giovanni?!"

He stormed into the production room, where the producers and most of the crew were.

"Cameras off!" he shouted. "NOW!"

* * *

If Wesley had ever been afraid of a person, it would be right now as a furious Giovanni Rocketto burst into the production room.

"Anyone going to tell me that Team Aqua and Team Magma interjected themselves into our business yesterday?" he roared at them, glaring dangerously at the room at large.

"W-we ended up handling it," Roger tried to explain. It seemed to be the wrong thing to say as Giovanni's glare turned to him.

"Handled? It shouldn't have needed to be handled!" Giovanni snarled.

He took out some sort of communication device.

"Five units out in the open," he growled into it.

To Wesley's consternation and horror, five groups of Team Rocket agents appeared suddenly in the room, surrounding everyone. Worse, a few of the production crew (cameramen, assistants, etc.) revealed themselves as part of the Team.

Oh dear God, those rumors of Giovanni being the boss of Team Rocket were true.

"This is what's going to happen," Giovanni furiously continued. "My Team and I will take over. They will make sure no more 'mishaps' happens. There will be no more of this 'Teams are invading the show' business. I  _will_  –"

The doors burst open and Ash rushed inside, and Wesley wanted to warn her, tell her to-to-to  _back off and run away_  –

Only she didn't do that. Instead, she took off her shoe and launched it at Giovanni's back.

"Stop tormenting them, you-you brute!" Ash shouted at him.

Everyone stared at her in shock and terror, while Giovanni blinked and stared at her blankly.

"If they'd been doing their jobs, you wouldn't have been taken away yesterday," Giovanni spat out.

"Look, it's not their fault," Ash said pleadingly. "They don't know how much of a trouble-magnet I am. Heck, you only managed to find that out recently!"

"I had an idea," Giovanni grumbled. Still, he glared around the room. "My Team is still taking over and commandeering what needs to be done, in order for things to be going smoothly. I expect  _full cooperation_ ," he added with a warning tone.

"Fine, fine!" Ash strode over, laying her hands on his arm. "Just –just calm down. Okay? Okay. You don't need to terrorize everyone."

"Did you two know each other before the show?" Lisa asked and Wesley felt a ping of disappointment, because that sort of compromised the whole premise and the two of them forming a relationship from being on here.

"Yeah? Sort of?"

"Does it count if it was just one time, face to face and briefly? I mean I knew  _of_ her because she tends to interfere with my Team a lot…"

"I don't really think that counts. Or that meeting in Unova –you were trying to kill me."

"No, no –you were interfering again and I  _threatened_  to kill you if you didn't stop. I wasn't actually trying to kill you."

"Same thing! Plus, you were a total asshole to Meloetta! And what was that with trying to take over Unova and use Legendaries and stupid mysterious –and probably dangerous! –artifacts in weird rituals? The taking over the world and using Legendaries thing is everyone's schtick. You usually scheme for profit and get away with everything! That's why everyone else is stupid and get caught."

"That's…a backhand compliment, if I ever heard one. And mind you, I almost succeeded in that plot, if it hadn't been for you interfering. And Team Rocket's ultimate goal is to take over the world. We just usually avoid the whole overblown Legendaries plot and all."

"Exactly! That's why you lost and almost got caught in Unova, idiot. And almost gotten yourself killed and possessed!"

"You know, I don't think I ever thanked you for saving me for then."

"You're welcome –"

"I honestly just need time to process this," Zachary interrupted, holding his head.

Wesley agreed.

* * *

Giovanni and Ash coughed and looked at each other before looking to everyone.

"So…technically this is the first time we actually 'met', being on this show," Ash said sheepishly.

"I formally introduced myself here, as did you, finally. And this is the longest we've ever been in each other's presence," Giovanni loftily continued.

"Civilly at that," Ash mused. "We're not at each other's throats, trying to save –" "Take over," Giovanni interjected with a smirk. "Trying to save the world," Ash finished what she was saying without a blink to Giovanni.

"Pika!" Pikachu appeared, seeming to agree.

"When did he get here?" Giovanni asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yesterday, after the whole fiasco," Ash waved him off. "Pikachu, meet Giovanni. Giovanni, this is Pikachu."

"Pleased to meet you," Giovanni eyed the cute thing, remembering the odd statements from Jessie, James, and Meowth about how the cuter the Pikachu appeared the more dangerous it became.

"Cha~" it smiled adorably at him.

Giovanni watched it closely, noting its tail showed it was a male, and nodded to himself.

"He's going to be Head of Security," he declared. "You'll be working closely with my Team," he told Pikachu.

"Pika pika!" he cheered, a glint in his eyes that showed Giovanni he made the right choice.

"Wait! You can't do that," Ash protested.

"Don't worry about it," he told her. He looked back at Pikachu. "Go with Archer. He'll get you set up."

The light blue-haired Executive appeared quickly, letting Pikachu climb up onto his shoulder before turning to Giovanni and giving him an acknowledging nod. Then he left with Pikachu.

"Team, you know what to do," he addressed his agents shortly, giving them a sharp look. He turned to Ash, giving her a soft look. "Let's head back. We still have the rest of the night to film and I have to give a group rose out."

He held out his arm and she hesitated before taking it with a light blush. He swept them out of the room and then it was just the rest of the production crew left, with a few straggling Rocket agents around to keep watch and work there.

"They belong together," Roger shook his head. "Seriously. Not including their obvious attachment and development in this show, the fact that they can practically try to kill each other and still end up like this…"

"It's a match made in purgatory," Wesley pinched the bridge of his nose.

Started 10/4/17 – Completed 10/7/17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! I'm going to be doing my best to expedite the next few chapters in order to finish up the first arc (first book at Wattpad), so that this can qualify for the Pokémon Watties. I won't be able to answer reviews until then, but I really would appreciate if you guys can keep up the awesome comments and motivate me to keep going!
> 
> Quick Points:
> 
> 1\. Pandora Pairings Forum: Rare pair forum I created that has lots of challenges, so check it and subscribe please! I'm going to be adding quite a bit of stuff to it this week.
> 
> 2\. The Regions Legends: If you like Pokémon, this is my collab account with a few friends of mine. Please check it out and fav, alert, and review! I'm personally in charge of "The Book of Ash", "The Book of Eve","The Book of Mal", and "Kitty Claws."I'd really appreciate it as we don't have any real attention and I've updated several times and haven't gotten any reviews for some past chapters, which is disappointing. So please take a bit of time to read and drop some reviews. I have updated all of those at the same time as this story!
> 
> 3\. "All the Lies That's Been Said": is my newest Pokémon story –it's a three-shot and is slash, but it's less focused on romance and more on the domestic violence subject. There is some Shattershipping though! I would really appreciate if you guys go check it out and hopefully drop a review?
> 
> 4\. Patreon: I've finally gotten started on this and actually added some original content on there. You can check it out, for now what I have is stuff open to the public, but I will start to begin to add in stuff just for patrons. But the Prologue to my first original story is there. Stuff that's public there will also be posted on my Wattpad, but yeah -soon my is going to have a lot of my notes and chapters for my original stories and probably some fanfic stuff.


	15. Carnival Play

Ten women. Ten women were all that was left of the original thirty women that had come in for Giovanni's season.

Ash hadn't realized the time was passing and so many women had left, until she sat on a couch of a suite with what women were still there. In a hotel suite rented for them in Nimbasa City, the last ten of them had traveled to Unova after the craziness of Hoenn and were waiting for a date card.

She didn't know why she felt like she was suffocating.

Harley yawned. "What's taking them so long? It's nighttime and we're all about ready to sleep."

Janelle sneered. "Past your bedtime?"

Ash immediately grabbed Harley's shoulder, squeezing in reassurance as the blonde glared angrily at the red head, having anticipated Harley's knee jerk reaction to jump up and get into a fight with Janelle. Harley took a few more deep breaths and clamped her mouth closed, glaring at the wall and not speaking.

A knock on the door interrupted them, thankfully, and Ash decided she'd get up and be the one to answer it this time. As she opened it, one of the crew members…no…she recognized the guy as Butch from the Butch and Cassidy Team Rocket unit, which made her eye twitch. Seeing Butch dressed up as part of the production crew made her wary of seeing her 'favorite' trio popping up all of a sudden…

"Thanks," she said wryly, accepting the date card.

Butch gave her an awkward smile and mild salute, before leaving her behind. She closed the door and headed back to the others, inwardly sighing and shaking her head. Opening the date card, she froze as she flipped the date card open and read the contents to herself.

"Well?" Janelle asked impatiently.

"It's not like you'd be getting another one-on-one so soon," Harley bit out.

Janelle scowled, but Rue spoke up. "She's right. You  _just_  had a one-on-one. I doubt you'd get another one already, so chill out. Ash?" she prompted then.

Ash swallowed slowly, staring at the card. "'Ash,'" she whispered, reading her name aloud.

Harley perked up. "Congrats, Ash!"

The others congratulated her too and she gave them a weak smile, feeling like her legs were jelly.

"Well, go on! What does it say?" Meghan asked excitedly.

"'Ash,'" she repeated. "'Meet me on the equinox.'"

"Ohh, maybe your date's going to have something to do with Death Cab For Cutie," Harley said. "Since that's the title of a song from them."

"Maybe," Ash hummed, delicately handling her date card and becoming lost in thought. "I guess I'll find out tomorrow morning?"

"Nothing to it," Rue agreed. "Alright, I guess it's time for bed then."

"Yeah…"Ash trailed off quietly, already thinking about the next day and wondering what Giovanni was up to.

She was heading to her room, when she saw Pikachu hiding off to the side, watching her intently like a stalker. She sweatdropped, more so as she caught sight of his outfit. Looked like Giovanni had dressed Pikachu up in the style of one of his Executive's clothing. That or Archer did (she barely met that guy in that one instance, and she could already tell he'd do that).

This was nothing new though (the stalking part). Since the rules were still applied, she technically couldn't really have Pikachu around. Hence, his stalking method.

At this point, she was sure the producers will just give up and fudge the rules.

She felt a bit bad for causing so much problems and causing all this chaos they had to deal with, but…technically it was their fault for putting her on the show. If they'd had just not put her on, like she'd wanted in the first place, then this craziness wouldn't be happening all the time.

So yeah. Not completely her fault.

Ignoring her weirdo Pikachu, she turned her back on him and went to bed.

* * *

The morning came and Ash found herself waking bright and early, finding she was the first one up. She didn't know what to do with herself, so she took a shower first and then made some breakfast. Once she was done and started to eat a little, the others were finally getting up.

"I missed your cooking," Leigh sighed happily, piling food onto her plate.

"I didn't cook much on my journey," Ash said in amusement. "My friend Brock traveled with me for most of my journey through the mainland regions and did all the cooking. After that, I met my friend Cilan here in Unova, and he did the cooking through our travels. Kalos is where I did most of the cooking, and I shared that duty with the professor in Alola."

"Where'd you learn to cook then?" Harley asked in curiosity.

"My mom," she answered. "She owns a diner too, so I helped out there."

Ash finished up and went to brush her teeth before getting dressed. Still, when she was looking through her clothes, she didn't know what to do.

Actually, that described her entire self right then. Ash really just didn't know what to do. She was kind of feeling…lost? Scrambling around and confused about her feelings and thoughts? Which was nothing new, and basically summed up her entire experience on the show so far…

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts and Harley peeked in. "You okay? You've been in here a while, and I'm pretty sure Giovanni's going to be coming around soon."

"I don't know," Ash murmured. "I don't know what to do."

The blonde smiled brightly at her. "Well, why don't we start by getting you dressed up first?"

Ash gave her a small smile and Harley sat next to her, looking over some of Ash's clothes.

"What were you thinking of wearing?" she asked Ash.

"I guess something casual? Who knows if we're doing something active again," Ash shrugged.

Harley hmmed. "But you're always wearing something casual. In each of our group dates and your first one-on-one date with him."

"Ah, it's been some time since our first date," Ash remembered, growing nervous.

"How about a dress?" Harley suggested. "Nothing fancy, but something nice and different. Change it up a little and maybe make today more special?"

"I guess," Ash agreed hesitantly.

"So what's Giovanni's favorite color, you think?" Harley asked, shifting through Ash's more casual dresses.

"Red," Ash answered instantly. "Red and black, but mostly red I'm sure."

Harley blinked at her, but nodded slowly. "Okay. Well, we've got this one and this one. This is pure red, but this one has some accents of black."

She showed her the two dresses, which Ash bit her lip at. She picked the red and black one, though honestly she wasn't so sure about wearing any dress. The evening dresses she wore for the Rose Ceremonies were odd enough, even if they did make her feel pretty, but for a normal day outing…

Well…sort of normal.

She put on the dress and Harley helped her with the makeup, leaving her hair to just lay normal around her face. Reluctantly, she also put on the back kitten heels that Harley held up. She usually just wore those with her evening wear, but she got that wearing her usual trainers with a dress wouldn't look right. Not that she wouldn't have tried doing it anyway.

Harley clapped her hands, wearing a bright grin. "There! Done."

Ash really hoped she didn't look weird. She hoped she at least looked nice.

Damn, who would have thought she'd be trying to dress to impress Giovanni of all people?

* * *

Giovanni knocked, feeling impatient all of a sudden. He'd been looking forward to this date, to being here in Unova with Ash all over again. He'd always had an idea to have another date alone with Ash in Unova, because he felt it was important to just do something to erase what happened the last time they were in the region together. Maybe not erase, but at least make up for it. A do over.

He wanted things to be better this time around.

The door opened and Georgina was there, smiling happily at him. He forced a smile onto his face.

"Good morning," he greeted her, trying not to peer around her to see if Ash was there. "May I come in?"

"Of course!" she said loudly, opening the door eagerly to let him in.

The other women were around, greeting him as well, but he saw no sign of Ash. He was just about to ask when she finally appeared.

It took every ounce of willpower for him not to just let his jaw drop and look dumbfounded at the sight of her though. He did end up staring, but how could he not? Ash was a vision in a scarlet dress, a teardrop neckline that showed the slightest amount of cleavage, and her hemline stopping just above her knees –modest enough but still showing off her legs. She barely had any makeup, but it made her look natural and accentuated that.

"Shall we go?" he asked, his voice sounding distant to his ears.

She blushed prettily and nodded, and he held out his hand for her to take. The feel of her slim hand sliding onto his made him want to pull her closer and hold her tight, but he refrained from doing so in front of the others.

The two of them greeted everyone goodbye and then they were leaving. Outside the suite, mindful but uncaring of the cameras, he turned to her and admired her more openly.

"You look beautiful," he breathed out. " _Cara mia_ , I am a lucky man today," he added in Italian.

Ash blinked up at him with her amber-colored eyes, her blush darkening. "I have no idea what you said aside from the first part," she said awkwardly. "But thank you for saying I look beautiful. I don't usually, um, think about my looks. I always thought I was okay enough, so I appreciate it."

She gave a shy smile that made him want to kiss her right then.

"But you are beautiful," he reiterated. "So don't think less of yourself."

He wouldn't let her, if he had any say in it.

"So where to?" she asked, changing the subject even as she continued to blush heavily.

"I owe you from the last time we were in Unova together," he said blithely. "What with the whole Meloetta mess and me having trapped you and threatening to squeeze you to death."

She rolled her eyes, hitting his arm and becoming relaxed again, as he'd wanted. Still, he glanced meaningfully at the producers walking with them with the cameramen, all of whom looked away. That part was going to be edited, whether by his Team or them.

"We're going around Nimbasa City," he said simply.

She gave him a searching look, but he revealed nothing as he smiled at her.

"Is this going to be a normal date?"

"As normal as we can get," he replied and she gave him an amused look.

They barged into each other's lives like wrecking balls. He didn't think they qualified as normality anymore.

* * *

Half an hour later and Ash was vibrating with excitement, eyes widening in awe and appreciation as she stood in the middle of Gear Station and looking around the Battle Subway.

Her eyes darted to Giovanni, whose lips quirked up.

"Choose a train," he told her. "The Station's ours for an hour."

"Who am I battling against and what pokémon can I use?" she asked, her face practically splitting with how wide her grin was.

Giovanni fully smirked, facing her as he took a step away. He casually unclipped a pokéball and threw it, his Persian leaping and landing gracefully near him.

"Me of course," he said smugly. "I owe you a battle, I believe."

Then he gestured to the side and she saw her Pikachu come running up to her. She felt even more ecstatic.

"I know he's important to you, so I made sure he was available for today," he told her, his words vague enough to make it sound like he'd gotten Pikachu for her today and omitting her pokémon's background presence in the production crew.

Giddy, she pointed to a random train. "Race you there," she taunted and didn't wait for his answer as she ran to it with Pikachu, heels and all.

His long strides helped him catch up easily, but she was more concerned with winning a pokémon battle against him.

"We'll –"

"–Referee."

She heard the familiar voices first and she turned to the twins in surprise.

"Ingo! Emmet!" she called out happily.

"Long time no see, Ash," Ingo waved.

"Yes, it's been a while, hasn't it?" Emmet nodded to her with a smile.

Remembering Giovanni, she turned to him. "Giovanni! If you haven't met them yet, these are Ingo and Emmet, the twin bosses of the Battle Subway. Ingo, Emmet, meet Giovanni."

The twins gained Cheshire grins and quickly moved in sync to surround her, mischievously glancing over to Giovanni.

"Oho! So this is your paramour?" Emmet teased.

"Well done, Ash!" Ingo tapped her nose.

"We fully support you!" the twins said in unison.

"Could've had us," Ingo teased.

Emmet continued. "But having Giovanni Rocketto is just as good!"

"Let's see that battle, huh?" Ingo gestured to Giovanni.

"You two, ready?" Emmet asked them.

Ash was back to excited mode, looking at a smirking Giovanni (whose jealousy couldn't quite decide whether to stick around or for him to just be amused at the twins' teasing).

"Ready!" she shouted.

If she ended up losing several times, to her detriment, she didn't care as much as she thought she would. Maybe she would later on, but right now she was just happy to be battling again, and more so against Giovanni. At least she was giving a better fight than she had the last time they were battling.

"Wonderful!" Ingo clapped enthusiastically. "Now how about a double battle against my brother and I?"

Her? Tag team with Giovanni?

For some reason, she was lit up in even more excitement than she had been in before.

"What do you say?" Giovanni practically purred, looking much too eager for it.

"Let's do it!" she grinned wildly at him, feeling adrenaline rush through her veins. "Pikachu, you up for it?"

Pikachu huffed at her, giving her a thumbs up.

Then she and Giovanni were side by side, facing Ingo and Emmet for a pokémon battle that felt oddly really right.

* * *

Walking around Nimbasa City at night was something. With its bright, electrified and colorful lights, the city sure was something to experience.

"It's beautiful," Ash murmured, looking around as she held onto Giovanni's arm, something she'd never thought she'd do.

"It is," she heard Giovanni say and looked at him to see him gazing at her.

She blinked, wetting her lips anxiously. "Ever thought we'd get here?"

"No," he answered her honestly. "I'm not sure I ever expected to like someone as much as I do you."

Her heart was thumping loudly in her chest.

"I haven't kissed you yet," he said quietly, still watching her closely. "Playing hard to get?"

It did remind her, with a strange jolt of still unfamiliar to her jealousy, that he had kissed everyone else but her.

"You're the one who hasn't moved in," she shot back teasingly, pushing down said jealousy once more.

"Like I said…I want a good time and place, to make it count and make it memorable," he said sincerely and that's something she'd never expected out of him.

"I'm glad," she decided to be as honest with him. "I was worried," she admitted. "You'd kissed everyone but me."

He gave her a soft smile.

"Hey, you two," Wesley caught their attention. "There's the Rondez-View Ferris Wheel. Why don't you two go on it?"

The two of them glanced at him in surprise before they looked at each other. They questioned each other with their eyes, before Giovanni shrugged and Ash gave a tentative smile.

They headed over and production was dealing with the people in charge, while Giovanni and Ash waited to the side. They glanced at their pokémon, Pikachu draped sleepily on Persian's back.

"They had a good day," Giovanni commented.

"They did," Ash agreed, debating harshly with herself, before taking a deep breath and tightened her hold on Giovanni's arm, leaning against it.

He looked down at her, surprised again, but relaxed against her after a moment.

Lisa waved them over. "Okay, guys! Come on."

Together, the two of them headed over and then were led to a large carriage.

"Just us?" Giovanni asked.

"No room for everyone," Wesley told them. "Just one cameraman though, okay?"

"Mmkay," Ash said as Giovanni carefully helped her in.

Then the two were locked inside with a cameraman already sitting and waiting in the carriage, before the Ferris Wheel was set to go.

Zachary clapped a hand onto Wesley's back. "Clever that! If this place and time doesn't make for a memorable romantic place for a first kiss, I don't know what does."

Lisa smirked. "If they don't have their first kiss, I'll lose a $100."

"I'll take that bet," Roger said quickly.

"My man, you are so going to lose," Zachary told him.

"A bet I'll be glad to lose."

The conversation became background noise as Wesley watched the carriage rise higher and higher.

* * *

Sitting next to each other and watching the outside, the bright lights were even better the higher up they went as they overlooked the city.

"You know what I wonder?" Ash asked as she watched the outside.

"What is it?" Giovanni's voice became low.

"What happens after this?" she asked, regret slipping into her voice. "When this is all over? What becomes of us?"

"I told you, even if you're not picked, I wouldn't give you up in my life."

"You're the boss of Team Rocket," Ash said plainly, glancing unworriedly at the camera. Though she did spot the cameraman gulp. "Don't tell me that means nothing."

"Do you know why I had your date card say 'Meet me on the equinox'?" he said suddenly, confusing her.

"No."

"Someone recently was blasting that song on repeat near me," he told her wryly. "But he told me what it meant. 'The song at its core is just about meeting another halfway, because life is very short, because there's only a brief period of time to really connect with people, and that it's important to recognize that.' Life is short. I connect with you so, so well that it baffles me. I don't want to cut that connection off."

Ash stared up into his eyes, and it felt like he was looming closer and closer until she realized seconds later that his lips had touched hers.

She closed her eyes and reached up with her hands, threading her fingers through his hair and falling into the kiss without a single care.

Started 10/11/17 – Completed 10/11/17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So pokémon battle without being described XD Haha, I didn't have the patience to write it out and liked it better this way, plus I just want to keep churning out chapters to meet my deadline. But at least they finally kissed!
> 
> Next chapter should hopefully be on Saturday or Sunday! In the meantime, please check out my The Regions' Legends stories –I just recently updated yesterday, and am in charge of Eve, Mal, Ash, and Kitty Claws!


	16. A Twist of Feeling

" _Halfway point, ladies!"_

What was she doing?

" _Oh my God, it's just six of us left! It's crazy, isn't it?"_

She knew who he was, what he had done. Could she forgive that? Turn the other way?

" _I've never been to the Decolore Islands! How nice, huh?"_

Ash was waiting for the other shoe to drop. She was waiting for everything to unravel and for her to just…lose.

That was the situation she was in after what happened…what happened three days ago. When Giovanni kissed her and she kissed him back.

When she realized that her feelings went deeper than she'd thought.

" _Wonder what we're going to do on Scalchop Island? Everything's so pretty around here. I'd like to go back here to Decolore and explore the other islands in the future…"_

Giovanni made her feel different –beautiful, sexy, wanted…But she was scared about how intense everything was. Coming into it, she knew that the whole situation had been compressed and isolated to encourage that intensity, but there was just more to it ( _to them_ ) than just that. She couldn't just blame the show's format for how intense and crazy everything was for her and Giovanni.

There was just something between them that was so forceful and passionate…something so inevitable she didn't think she could escape it. It was like gravity was drawing them together and she was helpless against it.

" _Did you hear what happened to Georgina?"_

" _Yeah. I don't know what happened. He sent her home on their date. You think they just didn't click or did something happen?"_

" _I don't know. I'm kind of curious what went on."_

She had known she liked Giovanni. That she found herself liking and caring for him, despite him being Team Rocket's boss. She found herself becoming more and more attracted to him as time went by on the show. She had known that.

But then he kissed her and it was completely different.

Now she wasn't just enjoying being around him and liking him, she found herself so far down in love with him that she didn't know what to do with herself or her revelation.

She had never really  _felt_  like  _this_  before, and she was scared of what it meant. She was scared of her own feelings.

She shouldn't have gone there. She shouldn't be there. She should just leave right now –

"Ash, you okay?"

Ash blinked herself back into awareness, seeing Rue looking at her in concern. Looking around, she realized that she'd been staring off into space as she sat on the couch for however long, and that the others were gone.

"Fine, I guess?" Ash muttered.

Rue sat down with her. "Really? Because you've been spaced out for like half an hour? We called you several times to see if you wanted to come with us down to the pool."

Ash winced. "Really? Ugh, I don't know. I'm just…out of it."

"Anything you want to talk about?" Rue asked gently.

She bit her lip. "It's…"

"Is it about Giovanni?" Rue guessed. "Because you know we've all got the same or similar problems. You've heard each one of us start bawling or getting worried about our own connections with him," she teased lightly. "We all become wrecks over him, especially around Rose Ceremony time."

Ash laughed weakly. "Yeah, that's true. If anyone would understand, you guys definitely would."

So she hesitantly began telling Rue about everything, starting with the kiss on their date (though she avoided any Team Rocket stuff).

"So he waited that long to kiss you, huh?" Rue mused aloud. "Usually, that's a sign the Bachelor or Bachelorette isn't really interested, but I don't think that's the case here at all. He really wanted it to be special for you."

Ash blushed, but shrugged. "I'm too scared of going there with him though. Everything I'm feeling is so new and so intense, and I'm terrified of it."

Rue shifted on the bed, facing Ash more. She gave her a serious look. "It's obvious he cares a lot about you. Do you know what happened with Georgina? We're not supposed to know, at least not until we watch the episodes back, but I asked my producer what happened. Roger told me that Georgina talked about you on their date, said you weren't here for the cliché 'right reasons' and that you were just really young and immature. Giovanni didn't really respond to that, but not too long after, he sent her home and cut the date short –went saying something like he 'had no connection with her' and that he 'was having trouble seeing a future with her'. Roger let slip, though, that afterwards Giovanni was really irritated and angry."

Ash stared at her, not knowing what to say to that. "Why're you telling me that?"

"I'm letting you know," Rue stressed, "that the feeling for him is mutual. You may be falling for him, but I'm sure the feeling's reciprocated. He won't even tolerate the rest of us speaking against you."

Ash wanted to deny that, say that what happened with Georgina had nothing to do with her…but she didn't know that and it sounded suspiciously like it had.

They heard the suite's door open and they looked at each other.

"The others are probably back," Ash said and they stood up and walked out the room, only to be surprised by Harley.

"Where is everyone?" the blonde asked.

"Never mind that! Why are you here? Was your date cut short for some reason?" Ash asked in alarm.

If she'd been eliminated, she wouldn't actually be there though. Only one of the production crew would have come in and grabbed her luggage to show she was leaving them. That she was there instead of being on her date though…

"I'm leaving," Harley shocked them. "To be honest, I like Giovanni. I like him a lot. I could even probably fall in love with him, you know?"

"Yeah," Ash knew that, knowing she'd been feeling the same.

"The thing is I've already fallen for someone."

Before the shock could again register to her, Harley pulled her into a tight hug. She heard the sniffle before feeling it, and Harley pulled away to reveal she was crying a bit.

The pretty green-eyed blonde smiled wide. "I think you're amazing. I think Giovanni deserves and needs a kickass, awesome woman like you. And of all of us, I definitely think you deserve Giovanni. I hope the two of you find all the happiness and love you guys deserve, even if it's –surprisingly –not with each other. Take care, okay?"

Harley hugged her one last time and went to move away, when Ash finally put her mind and body into gear and brought the other back into a tight hug.

"Thank you," Ash said firmly. "I had just really been feeling unclear and scared of my own feelings, but you really helped me just accept them."

"I'm glad," Harley told her.

Harley and Rue exchanged their goodbyes as well, and then it was just Ash and Rue again. Ash looked contemplatively at the floor before turning to Rue.

"I really want to talk to Giovanni right now," she confessed.

"Then go," Rue supported her. "Probably before the others come back and get jealous you're off to get more time with Giovanni."

"Uh, o-okay!" Ash was jolted into action. "I'll be back!"

She ignored the cameraman following her, trying to find Wesley. She more or less got that he was  _her_  handler, so it was him she should really go to for things.

Thankfully, it didn't take long for her to find him, seeing him talking urgently to Lisa and Zachary.

"W-Wesley!" she called out, continuing to hurry to him.

He turned to her, blinking in confusion. "Ash? What's up?"

"I really, really need to talk to Giovanni right now," she said anxiously.

Wesley was flustered for a second, before he nodded to the others and grabbed onto her as he led her away. "Okay, that's fine. This is actually the best way to get extra time with the Bachelor –asking one of us. Contestants just don't and end up getting upset about people finding extra time, when they could do the same. So in the future, don't hesitate to ask, okay?"

"Okay," she bit her lip. "Where are we going?"

"Giovanni's room is on the floor above," he explained to her. "We'll film you hurrying into the elevator and then up to when you get into the hallway. Rick, here, is going to continue to follow by your side into Giovanni's room and film your talk. I'll be behind you, in the background. Just ignore us, alright?"

Right, show. Still a show.

She nodded in understanding. After breathing in and steeling her nerves, she sort of powerwalked to the elevator, ignoring Rick shooting the film practically right beside her and focusing on her goal. She then stood anxiously in the elevator with the two, and Wesley stayed absolutely silent as much as Rick was completely still and focused.

Finally reaching the next floor, she exited in a rush and practically ran to Giovanni's door. She barely refrained from banging on it, instead knocking rapidly.

The door opened to Giovanni on the other side, looking surprised upon seeing her.

"Ash! What're you doing here?"

He didn't look to Wesley or the camera, despite them being so close. Ash was tempted to, but she had to remind herself they were supposed to ignore the cameras as much as possible. She still wasn't used to doing that.

"Never mind, why don't you come in first?" he stepped back to let her in.

She hesitated but crossed the threshold, turning to Giovanni after. She wet her lips, which she saw drew his eyes to them. Her cheeks warmed up.

"There's something I really wanted to say to you," Ash started nervously. "The thing is…Harley just came to the suite and told me that she was leaving and why."

Giovanni chuckled wryly. "Did she? I admit, when she told me she was leaving and explained, I was caught off guard. But I can say she's got good taste," he teased her.

Ash's seriousness didn't lighten up, which obviously put Giovanni on guard.

"Since you kissed me, I've been in over my head and just plain spinning around in dizzying circles," Ash told him with a grimace. "My emotions were all over the place, with the only clear thing was that  _I like you_. I really like you, Giovanni. In fact I –It's crazy, but I feel like I'm falling and I have no grip on anything. I knew before that I like you and I enjoyed being around you, even cared for you…but you kissed me and I had to face the fact that I'm falling in love with you."

Giovanni looked speechless, something she was sure he didn't do often.

"I was terrified about that, until Harley came and told me how she felt. And I realized that I accept how I feel and there's nothing I can do about it. And truthfully, I've come to find I'm okay with that. I'm okay with the fact I'm in love with you, Giovanni, and I'm glad I came."

She stepped into his space and reached up, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I don't feel like running away anymore," she said, talking about both as she was in the beginning of the show and now of running away from her feelings. "I like you too much to leave," she gave an almost watery grin, feeling tears pricking the corner of her eyes.

She leaned up to whisper into his ear. "I like you so much I can't act like I'm just here to help you out and not that I really want to be here for you."

Ash cupped the side of his face and moved it towards her, and she lightly placed her trembling lips against his. A warmth raced through her, just as a tingling started from her toes to feeling it spread to her cheeks.

He kissed her more firmly, wrapping his arms around her and tilting his head. He'd began to practically lift her up from the floor, when she broke away and backed up to the door, watching him with sad eyes.

"Thank you for hearing me out and letting me confess," she said softly and turned to run out the door.

"Ash!" his shout stopped her at the door and she turned halfway from it.

"I'm glad you came too," he told her, giving her a longing look.

She swallowed and nodded tersely, fleeing from there finally.

* * *

Giovanni didn't know how to feel right then. After hearing Ash out, he had to sit down and just think to himself for a few moments.

He liked her. He'd known that since seeing her come out of that limo and fall straight on her face. He knew he was attracted to her even before that, watching her as she stared back defiantly from a cage of his Team's design.

Fiery and hot-blooded, the way she glared at him made him unable to look away from her.

But hearing her now, listening to her confess falling for him for real…It made him confront his own feelings.

Many of the other women there were actually lovely ladies with plenty of intelligence and character, and were all clearly beautiful. And yet no one else connected or caught his attention like Ash had, and he was incapable of seeing himself with anyone else when he seriously thought about having a real partner by his side.

He'd started out on this stupid show just thinking on getting engaged without any real serious commitment to it. Then Ash came along and he saw he'd found someone who was a perfect match to him, in his mind.

If she was falling in love with him, he wasn't a coward and could admit that he'd already fallen in love with her.

Giovanni rubbed his face with both of his hands, uneasy but certain of what he was feeling himself.

He still had to deal with this stupid show, but he already knew who he wanted.

* * *

"You look haggard," Zachary mentioned, leaning against the wall next to the coffee table, where Wesley was clumsily making himself a coffee.

"Hm?" Wesley said, clearly having not paid attention.

Zachary raised an eyebrow. "I was saying you look haggard, man. Are you alright, Wes?"

Wesley gave him a tight smile. "I'm fine," he said, taking his coffee mug and turning away to walk off.

Yes, he was fine. Completely fine.

No, no he wasn't. Goddamn, he wasn't.

Wesley wanted to jump off a cliff somewhere, but he didn't want to acknowledge what the past few hours had just showed on his face, if Zachary's comments were any indication.

First Harley left because she admitted to falling for Ash. Then Ash went and confessed falling for Giovanni. And after watching Giovanni for a bit, remembering all the other times of the man before when it came to Ash, it was very clear what he was thinking about and that Ash's place in the man's heart (Ha! The  _Rocket Boss_  has a  _heart_!) was completely secure.

And there was Wesley, who realized –after watching everything transpire that day –that he might like Ash more than he should.

Clearly, he was an idiot.

Started 10/14/17 – Completed 10/16/17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/n: Ohhh, Romance Drama! Mwahaha! Sooo, another chapter here and a handful more to come. Cross your fingers that I make that deadline and please remember to review!


	17. Champion of Love

"I can't believe this," Ash muttered.

"There's…something strange in the fact you've become more or less someone's probation officer," Giovanni said in amusement.

"It's  _not_  funny," she said shortly, eye twitching.

"It kind of is," Meghan laughed.

"We should be leaving soon for the Orange Islands," Wesley told the Unovan police officers. "How long is this going to take?"

"He just finished being processed and is being released as we speak," Officer Jenny said.

Ash sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. Honestly, she had actually become good friends with Colress and had even kept up contact with him after he'd been arrested and she continued on her journey through the rest of Unova (and then onto Kalos and beyond), but this was just ridiculous.

Okay, maybe she wouldn't have minded so much and would have gone along with this in amusement, if this wasn't being filmed and everyone was there.

"Ash!" a familiar voice said and then suddenly she found herself being glomped and a head full of blond hair obscured her vision.

"Colress, I can't see."

Colress sheepishly moved away, before clearing his throat and becoming serious. "Thank you for agreeing to this and taking me along."

Giovanni coughed obviously, drawing attention to himself. The two of them looked over to him and Ash could see his frown and the forming glare towards Colress.

"Colress, this is Giovanni. Whom I'm dating. On a reality show. Yep," Ash scratched the back of her neck in awkwardness. "Giovanni, this is Colress, former Head Scientist of Team Plasma."

"Hello!" Colress cheerfully said, waving at Giovanni and not even blinking at what Ash said. "Pleased to meet you."

"Pleased to meet you," Giovanni replied wryly, giving a side-look to Ash.

Colress looked around Ash, having caught sight of a familiar face. He opened his mouth, but Ash vehemently shook her head. She did  _not_  want to talk about how Pikachu had found and dragged N into the show, recruiting the poor young man into being his deputy.

Archer appeared, whispering into Pikachu's ear, who nodded and smiled cutely at the man. Then Pikachu chattered quickly to N, who nodded in understanding.

Frankly, Ash didn't know whether she felt better that Pikachu was causing chaos there rather than at Pallet Town. She was also ignoring that she tended to encourage that chaos normally.

"Alrighty then! We're set and ready to go to the Orange Islands," Zachary clapped his hands.

For a moment, Giovanni brushed by her side, his fingers briefly touching against her hand. She would have dismissed it as an accident, if he hadn't glanced back at her with unreadable eyes.

It left her feeling like a gang of Butterfree were flying around in her stomach.

* * *

It didn't take them long to reach the Orange Islands, despite the fact they'd traveled from Unova. Courtesy of Giovanni of course, they had taken a private airplane that smoothly but quickly flew them to their destination. Now the five of the last ladies left were settling into the hotel suite that they shared.

Ash looked around, seeing who was left. Janelle, Rue, Meghan, Leigh, and then…Ash. Just a handful of them were left to vie for Giovanni's affections. Hell, the man didn't really want them to, but there they all still were.

"This is so boring," Meghan sighed. "I hate that we're all always mostly confined to the suite or to a specific area of the hotel. There's nothing to do!"

Rue looked around the alcohol cabinet. "I'm going to make something sweet. Anyone want something?"

Everyone requested something, even Ash, and they sat at the round kitchen table once they had their drinks in hand.

Ash randomly started humming something, taking absentminded sips of her Mai Tai.

"I…I recognize that," Leigh sat up straight. Then she started giggling. "Tell me you aren't humming  _The Power of Love_  from the Sailor Moon soundtrack!"

Ash coughed. "…So?"

Aside from Janelle, who just sniffed at them, the rest of the girls burst into laughter.

"Speaking of Sailor Moon," Meghan started mischievously. "Fighting evil by moonlight! Winning love by daylight. Never running from a real fight –she's the one named Sailor Moon~" Then she started guffawing.

Ash grabbed a handful of grapes and threw it at her, but she just continued to laugh hysterically.

"She will never turn her back on her friends, she is always there to defend! She is the one on whom we can depend! She is the one named…" Rue sung next, waving around her drink.

"Sailor Venus!" Meghan jumped up from her seat and posed.

"Sailor Mercury!" Leigh copied Meghan's actions, although she nearly tripped.

Rue and Meghan grabbed Janelle and forced her up, playfully presenting her.

"Sailor Mars," Janelle said sarcastically, though she did smirk and posed haughtily.

"Sailor Jupiter!" Rue was last, dramatically flourishing herself and then accidentally spilling her drink down her front.

Everyone started chortling again, collapsing around on the floor and shaking their heads.

"Shouldn't I be Sailor Mercury?" Ash huffed jokingly. "I'm the only one with short hair here."

"Psh! If anyone's Sailor Moon and the song matches most, it's you girlie girl," Meghan was lost in her giggles.

"ASH KETCHUM!" someone shouted from the outside. "I CHALLENGE YOU TO A MATCH!"

"NO WAY! I WAS HERE FIRST!  _ **I**_  CHALLENGE ASH KETCHUM TO A TITLE MATCH!"

"WAIT YOUR TURN, DAMMIT!"

"What the hell?" Leigh blurted out, all of them looking in the direction of the  _closed_  window in shock as they sobered up.

"I think that's my line," Ash said weakly, afraid to glance out the window.

Rue frowned, standing up quickly. She went over to Ash and pulled her up from the floor, and then started to lead her towards the suite's door.

"Head straight for one of the production crew. Especially one of the producers. Let them know what's going on and get them to handle this. The rest of us will pretend you're not here and shoo them away."

"O-okay," Ash said, still in shock. Rue yanked the door open, only to show N was on the other side, about to knock it seemed.

"You!" Rue barked out. "Get her to one of the producers. Tell them there's trouble. She'll elaborate. We'll see you later, okay Ash?"

Ash nodded and N gently grabbed hold of her, before leading her from there. A few steps into their walk together, Pikachu appeared.

"Pika pika pika?" Pikachu asked in worry, looking around warily.

"I'll explain in a bit," Ash said. "Thanks, Pikachu, N."

"It's alright. I was a bit bewildered when Pikachu suddenly abducted me, but I'm glad to be here and to be able to help you out," N smiled kindly at her.

It tempted Ash to pinch his cheeks. He was such a cinnamon roll.

"Ash! What are you doing here?" Lisa asked, seeing her first. Roger, Zachary, and Wesley saw her then and turned to look at her as well.

Ash explained the situation to them tiredly.

"Pokémon battle? I could try to battle and scare them away?" N offered.

"That's a good idea," Zachary agreed, starting to look relieved.

"I don't know how well that'll work," Ash winced. "Technically, I'm the Orange Islands Champion. Drake continued to battle as Champion for me, like a uh…proxy? 'Cause you know, I was still traveling and had gone onto Johto after going around the Orange Islands. So point being, they want a title match and since I'm here, I think they really want to battle and beat me."

"We could continue to do what Rue instructed the others to do –pretend you're not here," Wesley decided. "You'll stay here in the hotel, while the ladies stay in the suite and make it out that you haven't been here at all. N could go try to battle them into submission and scare them off. Giovanni's security team, led by your Pikachu, can do the rest."

That was agreed upon and everyone split off to do their parts, leaving Ash with Wesley.

"Here, follow me," he told her.

He led the way until they reached another room, where he let her in and then went in after her. The two of them settled into the living area, where Ash made herself comfy on the sofa.

"Where are we?" she asked curiously.

"My room," he said. "You can stay here with me for now, until they've gone off and you can rejoin the others."

"Oh! Um, thanks," she smiled tentatively at him, which he smiled back reassuringly at her.

"Don't worry about it. It's my job to make sure you're taken cared of," Wesley said easily. "Plus you're a nice girl with apparently lots of hassles following you around," he ended teasingly.

Ash chuckled, rubbing her head. "Yeah, that's always how it's been. Speaking of hassles following me around, how's Colress?"

"Thriving," Wesley said dryly. "He's been picking apart a lot of our equipment and attempting to build things. We've managed to satisfy him to a few things, so that he doesn't end up dismantling and destroying all of our things."

"Ah, that's Colress for you," her lips twitched in amusement. "He means well."

"So Janelle's probably gotten her one-on-one date card right now and will probably get ready for her date for today," Wesley informed her. "In the meantime,  _I_  have TV and internet. Bored?"

Ash smiled widely. "You don't think I can get YouTube, can I?"

If she looked up and started playing  _My Only Love_ , she blamed the others for continuing her Sailor Moon kick.

Beside her, Wesley twitched. A grimace started to form on his face, but he wiped his face clean. Still, Ash caught that and she laughed loudly.

"Sorry! The other girls and I just got going and I really felt like hearing this song, especially with this whole sappy romance show thing going on."

"The show is  _not_  as sappy as this song," Wesley deadpanned.

"Haha, yeah," Ash replied back sarcastically.

Wesley's lips tugged into a smile that Ash was pleased to see. But then it paused and he looked at her with a tired gaze that made her worried.

"Wesley?"

"You know, this show –despite obvious misgivings everyone has –really does try its best to produce real relationships," he started out. "It's television of course. We do end up hyping up the drama, encouraging reactions and sometimes even forcing them if need be. Our edits also produce a different story most times, if it gives us better results than what was plainly shown."

He took a deep breath before scooting to the edge of his seat and reached out to grab her hands.

"It's actually been kind of hard on me these past couple of days," he admitted to her honestly. "If I was being truthful, this has been building up for a while. But then Harley confessed to you and then you decided to confess to Giovanni, and suddenly my own head's not screwed up straight. But just know there's no pressure on you or anything, alright Ash? I just…I just realized that I've gone and stupidly fallen for you too."

Ash's eyes grew wide, an action that was growing more and more familiar with her during this process. Her breath seemed to have caught in her throat and she could do nothing but stare at the producer.

He gave her an ironic smile. "Surprise, I suppose? I know. You're really quite likable, which I told you I noted from the first time I met you. But growing and experiencing this journey with you, it's been kind of hard not to fall for you and realize you're just that kind of special."

Her cheeks warmed up at his words, indeed surprised but also flattered. She didn't know how to respond to him though, but knew she'd have to let him down somehow.

"But, as I said about going through all this with you, I also realize how deep you've come to feel for Giovanni. And I also have seen how much he already cares for you too. With that said, I know how I feel and I just wanted to let you know about it, but I also wanted to let you know that and reiterate that I'm rooting for you. I really hope you win Giovanni over."

Hell if he already thought it was a foregone conclusion though, with everything he'd seen and known about everything.

And if, on the group date the next day, Giovanni had his Rockets forcibly make sure Ash wasn't bothered and terrified everyone wanting to bother her, then things would all be well for now.

Love is a painful, bittersweet thing a lot of times.

Started 10/18/17 – Completed 10/19/17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/n: And here's another chapter! I'm on a roll, so here you go~ Please remember to review and keep my hype and momentum going! Cheer me on for that deadline!
> 
> (Also, this would have been out yesterday, but I was doing Jury Duty -ironically where I finished this chapter XD -and since I was selected, I'm getting this out now while I can.)


	18. Battle Royale

"It's so strange," N hmmed, walking by Ash's side. "I don't think I ever thought I'd see you…like someone?"

"What?" Ash gawped. "What do you mean?"

N gave her an amused look. "I may be considered 'innocent' and somewhat naïve, but I also know and noticed that in the short time I knew you, you were most definitely quite liked by many people. In  _that_ way. Only except you didn't really pay attention and was oblivious to it all."

"Really?" Ash continued to be in shock.

"Why is it so surprising? Then again, like I said, you were so oblivious to it," N laughed at her. "The only reason you knew about Colress was because he was completely obvious and blatant about it."

"And blunt," Ash muttered, thinking about her eccentric scientist friend.

"That too," N mused in amusement. "After all, despite being on opposite sides back then, the two of you still somehow managed to hang out."

"That didn't count!" Ash jabbed a finger at him. "Colress was off duty!"

N snorted. "Off duty? Can you really be off duty on a Team?"

"Yes," Ash insisted. She spotted Giovanni coming near them. "Tell him, Giovanni!"

The arriving Italian blinked and looked back at them in confusion. "What? What on earth are you talking about?"

"She says that it was okay that she and Colress hung out in Unova, back when they were still enemies," N informed him with a laugh. "She says he was 'off duty.'"

"Off…duty?" Giovanni's eyebrows lifted. "I don't even think that's possible. How did you two even meet and how did you two even managed that?"

Ash huffed, crossing her arms across her chest. "We personally met at a café. There was one blueberry muffin left and we both wanted it and tried to order it at the same time. I recognized him from a battle the day before, but before I could say anything he offered to share the muffin. So we ended up sharing it and then having a nice time together until it was finished.

"The next time we met, we were facing off again. Only, uh, just before Team Plasma was about to retreat, he stayed behind for a second and ended up asking if I wanted to share another blueberry muffin in an hour."

Giovanni snickered. "He and his teammates were just beaten, and he decides he's going to stay a second and ask if you wanted to hang out? Were there any police?"

"Tons," Ash rolled her eyes. "But Colress is weird and careless like that. His teammates yelled at him about it and even told him he was supposed to be my enemy and stuff, but he just shrugged and said that he was going to be off duty and it doesn't count."

"And that worked?" Giovanni grinned.

"It did," Ash said stubbornly. "Er, I didn't think it would at first, but we got along and so after a battle or when we were bored, he would declare he was off duty and we'd just hang out."

Giovanni planted his hand against his face, shaking his head as he shook with silent laughter.

"And this is why you get so many off the wall suitors, and your enemies to not actually be your enemies," Giovanni told her. "Here you are, acting like that's normal or just brushing it off. No wonder when the Castelia State Prison heard you were back in Unova, they contacted the producers and let them know you were going to be assigned as his probation officer."

"Still not funny," Ash scowled at him and N.

"It is," Giovanni replied teasingly, with N nodding in agreement.

"How about you then? How the heck did you just randomly pop up and got dragged into the show?" Ash glared at N, hands twitching as the young man grinned widely and continued to chuckle. "I know Pikachu's at fault, somehow having found you and dragging you into this –"

"And recruited to being his deputy apparently," Giovanni added nonchalantly. Ash transferred her glare to him for a moment before going back to N.

"I was in the middle of taking a shower, before Pikachu and that blue-haired man he's with right now came into the bathroom and threw a bag over my head. Also, I think they put some sort of cloth with a sedative over my mouth, because the only thing I remember next is that I was in your hotel suddenly and we were all taking off to pick up Colress," N said cheerily, smiling as he recalled it.

Ash and Giovanni stared at him, with Ash additionally gaping in shock? Horror?

All she knew was that she needed to have a stern talking to with Pikachu about kidnapping friends.

"You guys alright?" Wesley came over to them, holding onto a clipboard. He gestured to a cameraman near them, who they just noticed, and the man dazedly moved off with his camera while shaking his head slowly. Wesley slowed his walk in hesitancy as he noticed that.

"Please take me away from this insanity," Ash declared, heading over to her handler. "I think I'm going crazy."

"You already are," Giovanni teased and she stuck her tongue out at him before moving over to Wesley.

"Everything's set, so you and the others can head on up to your room," Wesley told Ash. "The other ladies are already trudging up with their bags."

"Oh! Okay. I'll find mine and head up too," Ash was surprised.

"Go on, I've got to check in with our Bachelor," he playfully shooed her away. Once she was gone, he focused on Giovanni. "So tonight, the ladies will just relax and get settled in. They might take tomorrow to rest as well, and then we were thinking you'd have no one-on-one dates this week. You could just have a group date with all of them the day after tomorrow?"

Giovanni thought about it. Things had been hectic these past few days. Plus, this show was hectic in and of itself, without the added chaos that somehow had plagued them. Some time off would be good for everyone. And to make it even less stressful and simple, one group date would work out.

"Alright. Then what would we be planning on for the group date?"

* * *

Obviously Kalos was a very pretty region, filled with lots of grandiose presentation and activities. The whole pop idol vibe the Pokémon Showcases had were point in case.

That still didn't mean Ash was prepared to do a PR video as part of the group date they had to go on.

"So we do a PR video? Do we have to each do one separately or are we all doing it together?" Meghan confirmed with the others.

"Let's do one together," Leigh suggested. "It'll be more fun and we can all throw in ideas to spice it up or something."

Ash got a lightbulb moment and a huge mischievous grin spread across her face.

"Hey… _I've_  got an idea we could do."

Ash couldn't help cackling in glee in her head. She hadn't been much up to mischief since her journey days and she was feeling a little restless. This was just a little payback. Really.

She explained her idea and when everyone agreed, they went to look for outfits and get things started.

* * *

Giovanni hadn't quite…wanted to agree with this whole PR video thing. At the time when it was suggested, he inwardly balked and wanted to veto the idea. But it wasn't like he had anything else planned for the group date, and his mind was still reeling around the revelations that Ash was falling for him and he had definitely fallen for her.

Honestly, he was just ready to take a break from this whole show thing. Which was…ironic, given he was using the show as a break from his own duties as Rocket Boss, gym leader, and businessman.

"So you're with the ladies," Lisa prodded him over. When he was in the midst of the last of the women left, he greeted them charmingly, trying not to let his smile falter when he noticed Ash wasn't there.

_Why wasn't she there?_

"And we'll start in 3…2…1!" the PR director, in this case they were using Zachary instead of one of the studios' employees, shouted out.

Before he could think more on it and register his distress at her absence (Had she left? Is she hurt? Did she get sick?), the cameras were all rolling, even the ones from the Bachelor show.

"President Giovanni! Please sign this!" Janelle gave him a flirty smile, accompanied by an official looking paper in a folder as a prop.

President?

He continued to smile, acting along while observing everyone. Oh –Janelle was his secretary. Rue was…a photojournalist? The rest looked the part of being his 'cabinet', while he assumed that he was playing the part of president of some place. Inwardly, his ego swelled and he quite liked the idea.

_President_  Giovanni. He mentally chuckled, enjoying the thought and considering it.

For a minute, he was doing silly "presidential" things for the video, with the others playing their parts. He was still wondering and worrying about Ash, but he was sure that one of his agents or the producers would have told him if something was afoul with her. They already knew the consequences after all.

"Hold it!" he heard ring loud and clear through the air and he knew that voice.

Turning to where the voice had sounded from, magnified as it was, Giovanni was then treated to Ash taking a step into a spotlight.

Oh  _hell_  no.

Dressed in a fitted black suit with a white dress shirt underneath, her short dark hair slicked back, while the bright red R was emblazoned on her left breast pocket –it was clear who she was impersonating.

With a sneering smirk, she crossed an arm across herself, holding onto her side lazily. Her other hand dismissively waved at him.

"President Giovanni!  _So_  good to see you," she mockingly said.

That little shit! He almost barked out in laughter, instead having to refrain from breaking out into an uncontrollable grin. And by the twitch of her lips and the brief amused look in her eyes, she knew it too.

Oho! So she was going to play the bad guy this time, huh? Fine by him. He didn't mind taking up the good guy role this once.

"Team Rocket won't get away this time," he declared confidently and he wanted to laugh at how he was being made to say the very words he would never have said otherwise. "I'll make sure to put you into jail!"

Ash laughed manically, playing it up. He refrained from rolling his eyes outwardly, but it was a close thing. She was getting way too into this and going over the top. He  _did not_  do evil overlord laughs.

Ash snapped her fingers and a bunch of his agents appeared out into the open. Giovanni actually took a moment to process this, and wondered how she'd convinced and hijacked some of his men into working for her for this video.

"Team Rocket will never go down!" she laughed and all of a sudden took out a plastic toy gun and pumped the back, pressing the handle to let out a long stream of water towards him.

Did she…did she just shoot water at him?!

"Rockets, go!" she directed and out of nowhere, his agents also had water guns and were aiming towards him and the other women.

"Protect President Giovanni!" Leigh shouted, even as she laughed and shrieked from the water.

While the other ladies attacked and engaged his agents, he looked for Ash and rushed towards her. She was so going down for this. Even if he would never be taken down, nor let his Team be taken down, that didn't mean he wouldn't mind taking down  _this_  Rocket Boss and her group of commandeered Rocket agents.

She noticed him coming, eyes widening as he came closer. She kept shooting at him, until she was finally out of water and she threw her water gun to the side, turning tail to run.

"Oh no you don't!"

He semi-tackled her, careful not to be too rough or hit her too hard, though they landed on the floor anyway, and he hefted himself above her so he wouldn't crush her.

"I surrender?" she said sheepishly, giving him an adorable blushing look that was more than a tinge guilty.

He leaned down and kissed her, gliding his lips against hers. He felt ecstatic that he could now kiss her whenever he wanted, now that the hurdle of their first kiss was over with. Just being able to kiss those lips he'd stared at for too long at times before was a heaven he didn't know he wanted.

He pulled back reluctantly but stayed close. "I'm giving you the group rose," he said firmly. "We'll head to the top of Prism Tower. We'll spend the rest of the night together."

"Okay," she said breathlessly.

And in the end, he didn't even have to give her the group rose, as Rue laughingly grabbed it and placed it behind Ash's ear.

"That was super fun!" Meghan giggled. "Great idea, Ash!"

"Yeah," Leigh laughed as well. "Honestly, I was kind of dreading doing a PR video on my own. Doing this took so much weight off my shoulders and I had a lot of fun at the same time!"

Janelle just smiled slightly, though he caught Rue raising an eyebrow at the red head.

But his attention was caught by Ash again, and he focused on her soft smile and the peace on her face.

* * *

Standing in front of the entrance to Prism Tower, Ash didn't expect (even though she had hoped) to see Clemont and Bonnie. But the doors opened up to not just them, but Clembot and their dad with them.

"Ash!" Bonnie yelled, the little blonde sweetheart running into Ash and hugging her tightly.

"Hey, guys!" Ash greeted back in excitement.

Once she happily moved around and hugged everyone, she introduced Giovanni to them, with him having waited patiently for her to finish her reunion.

"So romantic dinner?" Bonnie elbowed her while giving her a look full of mischief and teasing.

"Bonnie!" Clemont said in exasperation. He grabbed his sister's collar and dragged her over to their dad. "Dad, please take Bonnie to bed. It's past her bedtime."

"But!"

"No buts!"

And when they were gone, Clemont turned back to Giovanni and her fondly.

"So dinner, right?" he looked to the producers off to the side. "Well, you're gonna love it! It's really pretty. They did a good job on the setup. Come on!"

They followed him up, getting into an elevator that would take them to the absolute top. From there, the elevator doors opened to a romantic sight. A table for two was set up in the middle, with rose petals all across the floor. Further forward was the beautiful, soft-lighted view of the rest of Lumiose City for them to enjoy.

"Have a good time," Clemont wished them quietly, leaving them as they looked around in wonder.

Ash opened her mouth to reiterate that they'd done a good job with the place, only to look up to see Giovanni gazing at her.

She closed it just in time for him to turn to her and lean down, kissing her once again and taking all her breath away.

Started 10/27/17 – Completed 10/27/17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to try for a double update tonight or at least update quickly tomorrow morning and hopefully tomorrow night. I'm behind on schedule since I've been so busy and haven't been able to make myself write until today. Wish me luck guys! I think I'm going to really need it! Remember to review!


	19. Hometown Dates

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hometown Dates finally~

Ash yawned as she stretched in the airport. She cracked her neck before rubbing her eyes.

"Sleepy?" Wesley asked, handing her a cold bottle of water.

"Very," Ash yawned again. "But it's good to be home."

Colress, standing behind her with her luggage, nodded with a pleased smile. "I hope I can find this place home."

She gave him a reassuring smile before she led the way out of there. Wesley flagged down their ride and they entered it together.

It was Hometown Dates week and there were now only four women left since Meghan had been sent home in Kalos.

Frankly, she felt kind of nervous. It wasn't like Giovanni liked her back for real and she didn't have to be the absolute one at the end to help him with his ruse. The show was far enough that any of the women left would do, and Giovanni could have his pick and play it up for a while before finally cutting off the engagement.

She was just the lucky person to know enough about him and the truth, and who'd somehow landed on the show.

"N and Pikachu came home early, so things should be settled before we even arrive," Wesley informed her. "Through this week, Giovanni will visit Janelle's hometown first on Monday, take a rest Tuesday, visit Leigh's on Wednesday, take a rest on Thursday, and then visit Rue's on Saturday."

"So he'd break on Sunday and visit Pallet on Monday?" Ash questioned.

"Not necessarily," Wesley began. "He insisted on seeing you on Sunday. Besides the fact we'd be moving into the next week already if that was the plan, it also works out a little that Rue lives in Goldenrod City. Giovanni will take the Magnet Train from there to Saffron after his Hometown with Rue, and then take a plane to Pallet's airport. He'd catch up on rest and sleep overnight and be good to go for you the next day."

She wasn't sure about that, but left it alone. Giovanni was a stubborn guy, so she figured if he really insisted on heading straight over for her…

Still, that really warmed her heart and she fought off a smile.

* * *

"Mom!"

The door to Ash's home had already opened by the time their ride had reached the driveway, and Ash saw her mom and Oak at the door. That led to her getting out of the car and running towards them, tackling them into a hug that they eagerly reciprocated.

"Oh Ash! You're home," Delia gushed, hugging her daughter tightly.

"It's good to see you and have you back home," Oak said, squeezing her tightly as well.

Back in the driveway, Wesley and Colress got out of the car and were heading their way. When they finally made it to them, Ash gestured to each of them for an introduction.

"Mom, Sam, this is Colress, who I talked to you guys about back in Unova. And this is Wesley, basically my handler on the show and one of the producers."

"Nice to meet you," Wesley said, holding out his hand for a shake.

But Delia just pulled him into a hug before Oak did end up shaking his hand. Then there was Colress, who readily accepted a hug and even pulled Oak into it.

"Come inside! There's lunch ready," Delia told them.

Ash grinned widely. Oh, she missed her mom's cooking!

Happily trekking into the house with the others, she followed the scent of freshly cooked food and found the kitchen, where the dining area was connected to. She immediately headed over to pile some food on a plate.

When the others followed suit, soon everyone was relaxing and having a good lunch, though Delia tried several times to pry who the Bachelor was from her daughter and Wesley.

"I don't mean to be a bother, but I overheard some of the others the other day," Colress brought up a little after they were finishing up eating. "I believe some of the others had to use someone else's house for their family meeting?"

Wesley swallowed his bite and wiped his mouth before he answered. "Ah yes, that. Sometimes we have the contestants use a wealthier relative's home for Hometown family meetings. Ash doesn't really have to –though there was a little bit of a debate with the studio of asking you, Professor Oak, if we could use your place. They liked the idea of having someone famous like you and showing off Ash's connection to you, but we told them that it would've been obvious it wasn't her home."

"Technically, since I'm dating her mother, it could be considered her home," Oak said.

Wesley and Colress, having both taken a sip of their drinks, did a spit take in unison.

"Didn't I say anything about that?" Ash tried to remember.

"Not that I recall," Wesley grimaced, wiping his mouth before trying to clean up his mess.

"Definitely not to me," Colress added on. "You're a horrible friend," he pointed accusingly at her.

She rolled her eyes and smirked at him, causing Colress to huff and playfully try to flick her forehead.

"Well, we can figure out the details later," Wesley mused. "When it's a little closer to time."

That reminded Ash again that Giovanni was essentially going to meet her "parents".

She felt a knot of anxiety in her stomach.

* * *

When Giovanni woke up that morning, having endured a week of "meeting the family" over and over, he almost groaned and wanted to claim illness.

Then he realized whose Hometown Date was today.

Remembering he had to see Ash in an hour, he hurried off the bed and rushed through his morning routine. Then he was ushered by the production crew into getting dressed and into makeup, and he was too distracted by the thought of seeing Ash to be irritated this time.

"Ready?" Topher asked. "It's getting down to the wire. You getting nervous?"

Giovanni almost answered 'no' immediately but backtracked. When it came to Ash, he  _was_  actually nervous. It made him uneasy to think that, considering he didn't do nervous about anyone, but here he was.

"There are four wonderful women left," Giovanni told him smoothly, smiling slightly even though he'd rather just roll his eyes. "Who wouldn't be nervous?"

He finished up there and was led to a car, where he was being driven off. He was supposed to meet Ash over at Pallet Groves Park, and the closer he got to it the closer he felt himself get anxious.

Was Ash anxious, even a little bit? Would it make it better for him if she was? Maybe. At least he'd know he wasn't alone in it.

"Here we are, sir," the driver said and he absentmindedly thanked him, exiting out of there and heading into the park. He saw a few of the production crew and they pointed him into a direction, and he followed them until he saw Ash sitting on a bench.

She looked lost in thought, nibbling on her lower lip as she stared at the ground.

"Look who's waiting for a prince," he felt himself start to grin as he came closer to her.

She looked back at him, giving him a look of amusement. "Didn't I tell you I didn't think you were Prince Charming?"

He chuckled and slid to a seat beside her. "I haven't actually been in Pallet Town in a while, and every time I was it was only to visit Oak for some business or other. Care to show me around?"

"Maybe," she pretended to think about it. "Oh, alright. Come on, you."

And just like that, all of his anxiety seemed to ease out of him and he was relaxed and content in her presence.

They did end up walking around the town a bit. At some point, Giovanni eyed her hand and after a debate with himself, he reached out to take it. She'd looked up at him in surprise, but the light pink dusting on her cheeks made him pleased.

"Is that Ash Ketchum? Why it's been so long!"

He stopped in his tracks with her, and the two of them turned to face who called out. It was a middle-aged man with graying hair and who looked like he was getting off for his lunch break.

"Hello, Mr. McKinnon!" Ash greeted, waving at him. "How are you?"

He walked over to them. "Good, good. How are you? You sticking around for a bit? Or going off on another adventure?"

Ash shook her head. "Staying around a while. I've been good, though a little bit tired and thinking a break from traveling would be refreshing."

He nodded. Then he eyed Giovanni. "So…who's your companion?"

"Ah, Giovanni Rocketto," Ash introduced, but Giovanni was sure that wasn't what the other wanted to know.

"I'm Ash's date," he explained and Mr. McKinnon narrowed his eyes.

"Is that so? You two going around on a date right now?"

"Yes," Giovanni said clearly and Mr. McKinnon continued to eye him up.

"Well, Mr. Rocketto, you may be some rich, famous high-baller, but keep in mind that young Ash here is well loved by the town and you'll find yourself facing quite the mob if you hurt her, you hear?"

Then he smiled at Ash and clapped her on the shoulder.

"Have fun and enjoy yourself, sweetie!"

He left and the two of them blinked, stuck in place.

"Was I just…threatened by some random man off the street?" Giovanni asked in confusion.

"To be fair, I did know him," Ash laughed lightly.

And Giovanni thought that was that, only for them to continue to walk around and occasionally be stopped by some random people off the street, who were obviously overprotective of Ash and ended up threatening him.

"This whole town is completely overprotective of you," Giovanni told her dryly.

"…Er, I suppose you're right."

It was cute if not also rather intimidating. Which was really something, considering who the hell he was.

* * *

"Time to meet the parents, huh?" he asked as they walked towards her home.

"My mom and Professor Oak are dating," she said and he had to pause.

"That would make…technically Professor Oak your stepdad," he said slowly, processing that.

"Yeah, just thought you should know before we go and meet them and you get caught off guard. Also, I call Professor Oak 'Sam,'" she told him.

"I see."

Well, he should already know that her life was crazy and hectic most of the time. Why was he surprised at something like this?

They found her home and Ash went forward to knock. It was opened up to Oak.

"Welcome," Oak greeted before he saw Giovanni and faltered. "G-Giovanni? You're the Bachelor?"

"Guilty," Giovanni gave him a small smirk.

"Right, um," Oak shook his head. "Anyway, we're actually going to meet over at my place."

"Really?" Ash asked in confusion.

"Yeah. Your mom is already there, so let's head there together."

So the three of them walked to Oak's lab, where when the front yard came in sight, Giovanni actually almost stumbled.

Yes, he had that kind of reaction for once.

Why was that? Because all of Kanto's gym leaders, Lance Wataru, and even Steven Stone were in the front yard, where there was a small setup for a party.

"Ah, it was supposed to be a small homecoming party with just us and my aides and grandson," Oak said. "But then somehow word was spread that Ash was home in Kanto and they all came this morning. Gary didn't even make it today…"

"Uh…huh. Some homecoming," Ash said faintly.

"Hey! Is that Ash? Hey, girl! What's up?" Lt. Surge spotted her first, waving wildly before he came jogging over.

Soon enough, Giovanni found the rest of his fellow gym leaders crowding around them. Both of them were greeted by everyone before the questions came.

"What are you doing here, Giovanni?" Erika asked inquisitively.

"Yeah. I mean I didn't know you even really knew Ash, since she'd missed battling you for a badge during her Kanto journey," Lt. Surge commented.

Giovanni saw that Brock and Misty at least were eying him suspiciously, and he remembered that those two had been Ash's traveling companions and knew about who he was. He wanted to smirk at them, but he was already in the middle of an uncomfortable situation with the others, who were eying him less in curiosity and more with frowns.

"So…you know the reality show with the roses and stuff?" Ash started awkwardly. At everyone's blank looks, she gulped. "He's the Bachelor and I'm one of the contestants," she blurted out.

"We're dating," because they were and even if it was a reality show, it counted. Giovanni straightened up, glaring back at the others. "So we're currently together."

The silence was so thick it could probably be cut with a knife.

* * *

Everyone was gathered together, pretending everyone was normal and having a good dinner as they mingled around. They caught up with Ash, who was with Giovanni most of the time until she was dragged off by her mother.

And then it was just Giovanni and the rest of them, and it felt like he was about to be cornered and eaten like a trapped wild animal.

"Since when were the two of you dating?" Lt. Surge snapped at him. "Last I checked, you thought the rest of us were silly for 'gushing' over Ash so much."

"We met over the show," Giovanni put on a straight face, not just to cover up meeting her in Unova as the Rocket Boss, but also to gear up to be in fighting mode. It looked like he'd have to. "She'd walked in as one of the contestants and we found we really got along."

"But you still have three other women left," Erika pointed out disdainfully.

"Yes," he gritted his teeth. "But my focus right now is her because I'm with her right now."

"I don't know," Blaine rubbed his mustache, while Sabrina looked at Giovanni thoughtfully and not let any be revealing. "A sweet girl like her with someone like you? It feels mismatched…"

Giovanni tried not to get angry at that. What did that old bastard know? He and Ash really did get along fantastically! And hell if he was going to take this –

"Giovanni, can we have a moment away from here?" Steven Stone, someone from Hoenn and who he didn't even get why was there, asked with pleasant face.

He frowned, but stood up and followed the Hoenn Champion some ways away. Still, he glanced back at the others, who still looked mutinous, though Brock and Misty were plain-faced and showed nothing of hostility on their faces. They were probably the most entitled to it though, since they knew who he was and were probably the closest to Ash of all of them. He still wasn't sure why they hadn't joined in on the attack with the others, but maybe they were saving it for later…

"So it's been a while since we last met," Steven started out. "We usually do business together, since our League charters are in different regions and we don't really interact through that."

"Correct," Giovanni said stiffly.

"I met Ash when she was traveling in Hoenn," Steven hummed. "She's pretty, sweet, and kind. She could be a real wild card too, though."

Giovanni stayed quiet.

"Blaine's right. It's hard to see someone like her with you," the younger businessman smiled politely, and Giovanni wanted to knock it off his face. "You don't match, so you should probably take that into consideration when you eliminate someone this time around."

Giovanni was this close to punching Mr. Pretty Boy in the face, but he forced himself to calm down.

"I like her a lot," Giovanni said calmly, forcing himself to be so. "But I bet you know what I mean because you like her a lot too."

Steven started scowling and he continued on before the other could find a retort.

"You can't scare me off because you failed to win her over. I'm not going to lose her as easily as you seemed to have," Giovanni let himself sneer. "Thanks for the 'advice.'"

He turned sharply on his heel and walked off, heading back to where the main group was. He'd almost made it too, only to find Lance waiting for him.

"What can I do for you?" Giovanni asked, frustration leaking into his voice.

Lance glanced at him before looking back at the group that was still at a distance away. Ash and her mother were still MIA, but Steven looked unruly as he rejoined the group.

"I'd like Ash to be happy," the Johto Champion said softly. "She deserves it, you know?"

"She does," Giovanni muttered, coming to a stop beside Lance and stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"Can you make her happy?"

Giovanni blinked before the question registered and he turned to Lance furiously.

But Lance was looking at him solemnly and that made him hesitate.

That gave time for Lance to continue. "She's just looking for someone to love her. Are you really that person?"

Lance gave him an unreadable look before he left him behind and rejoined back with the others.

* * *

"I'm surprised but happy Giovanni's the Bachelor," Delia told Ash. "To be honest, I've been worried about you. I didn't mean to push you to be on the show, but it seemed like you would never find someone and fall in love. You seemed…content with traveling and never stopping. Which is okay! If only you didn't seem so discontent a lot of times…But he seems like someone that could take care of you and make you happy, which is really all I want."

Ash smiled sadly at her mom. "Sorry for worrying you. I did keep traveling everywhere and I know I tended to not look back as much as I should have. I don't know. I just felt restless and like I couldn't be content in one place. Maybe it was just when I was younger, maybe I'm just someone who couldn't be motivated to stay anywhere.

"But you know, when I first came home, I did wanted to just take a break and try to move on from journeying. That's true. I went through a lot these years, and I thought it was time to just settle down in one place. I never thought of going out to try to date anyone or really cared about that kind of thing. But I'm really glad you did push me to be on the show. The truth is I really like him, Mom. I've been falling for him all this time, but I think by now I'm definitely in love with him," Ash admitted.

Delia pulled her into a hug. "Oh, sweetheart."

"Well that's good to know," Oak said, coming into the room. "I admit I was skeptical about the show and more so when I saw Giovanni and you come together…but if you're really happy, that's all I can ask for. Your mother and I love you a lot, and we've worried over you for all these years. You never seemed content and I'm hoping now that you could find a little bit of happiness."

"Come on," Ash brought Oak into the hug.

"Good thing Gary's not here though. He'd have a conniption over all of this," Oak snickered. "Let's head back to the others."

* * *

Giovanni pretended everything was fine, all smiles through the rest of the party, but what Lance said bothered him. Even more so than when he'd been confronted with Steven and the idiot had insulted him.

No, Lance implying that he couldn't make Ash happy, that he really wasn't the one for her…that bothered him more than anything.

Part of it was because a part of him wasn't sure either.

Even when Ash came back to the party, he was still feeling bothered and he knew she could tell. She was good with him like that.

(But was he good for her?)

He felt a hand on his shoulder and he turned in his seat to see Oak.

"I'd like to have a word with you," the professor said quietly and he nodded.

The two of them walked off together and Oak didn't waste time.

"The others gave you a hard time already, I saw and I get it. But you know, Giovanni, that you aren't the most congenial of men," Oak said and Giovanni winced. "You are a gentleman to women, I'll give you that."

"That's…true," he murmured, hoping Oak wasn't too upset to find him dating the other's all but blood daughter.

"I'm wary of all this, of you, of the relationship between Ash and you," Oak faced him, telling him honestly. "But…I'm supportive. Like probably your talk with Delia earlier, I'm sure she expressed to you that all she wanted was for Ash to find someone to take care of her and be by her side. I just want her to find happiness and I sincerely hope it's with you, Giovanni."

Giovanni looked to him in surprise, having not expected Oak to be as supportive as he was. But he was glad for it, so he gave him a grateful smile.

"I want her to have all the happiness in the world," he told Oak. "She's the best person I know."

He just wished the opposite was true and that he could be the one to give her all the happiness she could ever want.

* * *

Ash found him soon after, grabbing his hand and heading off somewhere.

"Where are we going?" he asked in enjoyment.

"You'll see," she said simply.

But before they could, their way was blocked by Brock and Misty and Giovanni wondered if this was the time the two were going to lecture Ash and glare him off. He ignored the cameras and hoped the two wouldn't say anything that would be too hard to edit out.

"This is strange," Misty admitted.

"But really not that unexpected," Brock said frankly.

Giovanni stared while Ash blushed heavily.

"You'd always had this ridiculous crush on this guy," Misty rolled her eyes while jabbing a thumb Giovanni's way. "Why am I even questioning the fact you went on a dating show where he's the guy you have to date?"

"Hey! I didn't even know he was the Bachelor!" Ash protested.

"Whatever," Brock said while grinning. "That said, we trust you and that you know what you're doing," he said after a quick glance at Giovanni hintingly.

"In the end, we just want you to be happy and if this guy does that then we're okay with it," Misty added on.

Giovanni was taken aback while Ash practically leaped forward and hugged her friends.

"Take care of her, okay Giovanni?" Brock said, looking at him seriously over Ash's head.

He nodded, looking back just as seriously.

"Alright, we'll let you two go off and have some private time," Misty said in a teasing tone, letting go of Ash. "Behave!"

They separated ways, with Ash continuing to lead him to somewhere. Soon he found himself inside of Oak's corral in the lab, where Ash led him to a spot in the field. She plopped down and patted the spot next to her.

"Did you have a hard time with the others?" she asked him quietly.

"Just with my fellow colleagues," Giovanni sighed.

Ash didn't say anything, though she did lean up against him. Pikachu appeared and spotted them, eagerly running towards them and into Ash's arms. He rubbed his head against her happily, before surprisingly butting his head against Giovanni. He smiled a bit, reaching over to scratch him behind his ears.

"I've got issues," Ash began talking and he listened intently, not expecting her to just talk all of a sudden. "I've got abandonment and commitment problems since I was young."

Ash sat up away from him, rubbing her face in agitation. He reached out to her to try to comfort her.

"My father left my mother and I when I was a kid," she confessed to him. "I spent so much of my childhood begging he come back, and when I was finally old enough to go on a pokémon journey, I'd hoped I'd run into him. In the end, I just became afraid of becoming close enough to anyone that they could end up abandoning me."

"I promised, remember?" he told her softly. "You have my word that after everything, I'm never going to let you go out of my life no matter what. I can't imagine you not in it. I promise I won't hurt you like that and I would never abandon you."

He pulled her close. "Even if that means we're enemies for life, you're never rid of me," he muttered into her ear and she let out a watery laugh against his chest.

Though he'd prefer if they were anything but enemies at this point.

Started 10/28/17 – Completed 10/28/17


	20. The Fantasy Suite

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very brief, semi-explicit sex scene at the bottom of the chapter.

"We've gone past our regular shooting schedule," Wesley noted to her.

"What do you mean by that?" Ash asked.

"Regular shooting is seven weeks and that's abnormal for a reality show as is. At this point, we're going to finish up with ten weeks."

"And this week is Fantasy Suite week," Lisa commented, leaning back in her chair and balancing.

Ash froze. "What?"

"Hm?" Wesley asked distracted. "What's wrong?"

"What do you mean 'Fantasy Suite'?" Ash's voice went high.

Both producers with her gave her surprised looks. Then they gave each other hesitant looks.

"You know…the overnight dates," Lisa continued tentatively. "You go out with Giovanni for the day, then you get the option of staying together with no cameras overnight in a 'fantasy suite.'"

"That's what I thought you meant," Ash said feebly.

"Dates start tomorrow," Lisa cleared her throat awkwardly. "You'll be last again. Rue's first, Janelle is second, and then you and Giovanni can enjoy Ecruteak City together."

"…Right…"

* * *

Giovanni looked at the card before looking at Rue after reading it aloud.

"Would you want to accept the overnight room?" he asked. Inwardly, he wasn't sure at all. It was one thing to kiss the women, but he didn't want to actually sleep with them.

Sure, it was only Rue, Janelle, and Ash left, but still…If he was honest with himself, he wouldn't have as much of a problem with this and would have enjoyed himself otherwise, if he hadn't become so enamored with Ash. Janelle and Rue were both beautiful, but every time he pictured being with someone, Ash's face came up and the idea of being disloyal to her in any way bothered him.

"I'd love to," she smiled kindly at him and he smiled back, hiding his uncertainty.

The two of them moved together to the room, though he did glance back at the cameras. However, once inside the room, Rue just sat on the bed and gave him a grin full of lament.

"Don't worry, they say that the Fantasy Suite overnights can be used to just talk, even if most of the time it isn't used that way," she said with a laugh.

He gave her a confused look, but she just shrugged.

"I know how you feel about Ash," she was brutally honest. "I've already figured it out. And in hindsight, after watching it all back, I bet everyone would see how obvious it is too. I know and I understand. If anyone deserves you, it'd be her. She is pretty freaking awesome."

Giovanni's lips twitched up and he moved to sit next to her.

"That she is," he replied laughingly.

"When  _did_  you start to see how much you liked her?" she asked him curiously.

"Honestly? From the very beginning," Giovanni rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, it was also hard not to notice her when she's walking out of the limo and falls straight onto her face on her way to see you, if you know what I mean?"

Rue started laughing. "Did she? That's great! I always got the feeling that she'd be memorable no matter, you know?"

He nodded in agreement.

Funnily enough, he spent that entire night talking to Rue about his relationship with Ash. By the end of it, he knew who he wanted and who he wanted to be with.

He'd known for a while he'd fallen in love with Ash, despite everything that said he shouldn't, but he still had reservations on picking her at the end of this. He didn't want her to be upset in any way, to still be tied to him for this ruse of an engagement because of his PR stunt, or to regret any of this.

But this whole night, after talking to Rue, he found he didn't want to care and realized the truth of it.

Giovanni wanted Ash and she was the one he wanted to be with, hopefully even beyond this PR nightmare he'd gotten himself stuck in.

He just had to convey it to her somehow.

* * *

Ash found her hands had creeped into her hair and that she was attempting to pull it out. She realized this only after having Wesley trying to soothe her hands and pry them from her hair, murmuring panicked reassurances.

This week was Fantasy Suite week. She knew what this week was.

_She was going to be spending the night in a room with Giovanni._

Alone. No cameras. One bed.

It was driving her nuts and she was becoming extremely nervous the closer it came to be her time. She knew tonight was Janelle's night and while it brought a huge sense of jealousy in her, it also morphed into anxiety as she realized it was inching closer and closer to her time with him.

"Look, sweetie, sometimes they just talk on these overnight dates," Lisa tried to calm her down. "You don't have to actually sleep with him. These dates are made so that the couples can get to know each other more, without cameras interfering or bothering them. Sure, most of the time sex is involved, but you want to know if you are physically attracted and compatible in bed, right?"

Ash made a sound that sounded like a dying Wailmer.

"Everything will be fine," Wesley brushed back her hair with his hand. "Just enjoy your time with him. If you don't want to do anything but talk, let him know and I bet he'll be fine. There's no need for you to freak out about this, okay?"

She took a deep breath and nodded hesitantly.

"That said, if you do sleep with him, we don't provide condoms in the Fantasy Suite," Zachary said apologetically as he and Roger walked towards them.

Roger hit him upside the head, while Ash buried her face into her hands and tried not to hyperventilate.

* * *

"I heard you were panicking over today," Giovanni teased.

"Not funny," she deadpanned, eye twitching.

He pulled her closer into his side and kissed her temple. She blushed faintly, but she started to smile a bit.

"We'll have a good day out, so let's focus on that," he told her and that helped her relaxed.

"Okay," she said softly, burrowing further into his side.

She was surprised when they ended up at the Ecruteak Dance Theater, where they enjoyed a performance by the Kimono Girls group. Afterwards, they found an old-fashioned tea house where they were seated and had a light meal and drank some tea together.

When they were done there, they visited the Burning Tower and then the Bell Tower, before they headed to the traditional inn they were staying at and had dinner in the inn's restaurant. The door to their private room opened and they put aside their chopsticks to see Topher enter. He had a card with him that he handed over.

"This is for you two," he grinned widely at them. "Enjoy!" he said before leaving.

Ash's face flushed red, but she watched Giovanni closely as he opened the card.

"'Giovanni and Ash, we hope that you are enjoying your stay in Ecruteak Burning Ashes Inn. If you decide to forego your individual rooms, you can use this key to stay as a couple in the Fantasy Suite.'"

He looked to her. "Do you want to?" he asked and it was still a novel thought to hear him be so hesitant.

She thought about it before she nodded and smiled at him shyly. "I would like that."

The look of relief that crossed his face made her heart thump faster and louder in her chest.

They got up from their table and he went around it to reach her, offering his arm before they left there together and headed to the room they were going to share. Once inside it, the cameras followed them up until they went inside the Fantasy Suite room and closed it behind them.

They looked awkwardly at each other.

Giovanni gestured to the bed. "Shall we?"

She gave a sharp nod and they both slipped onto the bed until they were side by side. He turned onto his side to face her, cushioning his head on a hand. She hesitantly moved to face him as well.

"We can just talk," he reassured her, just like the producers told her could happen. "We don't have to do anything else, except keep getting to know each other."

Biting her lip, she examined his face and watched him look back at her contently, as if he really was fine just talking and being around her.

But if she examined her feelings and thoughts, she knew that she did want to be with him that night.

"I told you that I was falling for you," she whispered as she shifted closer to him. "The truth is, I'm in love with you right now."

She made the first move, stretching slightly to kiss him.

* * *

He took over the kiss, feeling a hunger take over him. The smell of peaches wafted off her and he pulled back just so he could bury his nose against her neck, inhaling slowly and headily enjoying the smell of her.

Giovanni then let his tongue dart out and swirl around her skin, moving it up to lick a line to her jaw, drawing gasps and whimpers out of her.

He kissed her again, searching out her tongue to wrestle with, and feeling her chest against his heaving with every breath she struggled to grasp.

" _Sei bellissima_ ," he murmured against her lips. "You're so, so beautiful."

He wanted every inch of her. He wanted to have her all to himself, sneer and mock his colleagues that he had her and they didn't, and that he would never let her go.

She was  _his_.

Her slender legs wrapped around his waist and he reached down to slip his hands under her blouse, trailing his fingers against the smooth skin of her sides until he felt the tips of his fingers touch her bra.

All of a sudden music played in the room and he jerked back, looking around in alarm.

" _And I found love where it wasn't supposed to be  
_ _Right in front of me  
_ _Talk some sense to me~"_

He felt her shift and saw her looking to their right. Ash reached to their side and grabbed onto a piece of paper on the side table he'd just noticed. She read it aloud.

"'Boss –we thought we'd set up a mood. Love Jessie, James, and Meowth,'" and as soon as she finished, there was a very faint reddish glow in the corners of the room.

"Those idiots," Giovanni grumbled in irritation, but stopped thinking of them the moment Ash leaned up and kissed his collarbone, feeling her soft hands glide down his torso in a whispery touch.

And it didn't matter anymore, outside of anything of him and her.

"Talk some sense to me," she whispered to him in a match with the song, eyes hooded as she breathed slowly, her lips plumped and reddened from their kisses.

"I don't want to," he murmured and captured those enticing lips again, devouring them with every second. " _Ti adoro_."

"Giovanni!" she gasped out as he quickly slipped her skirt off.

" _Voglio fare l'amore con te_ ," he said breathlessly, just as quickly unbuttoning his dress shirt and shoving it off. "Let me make love to you."

He helped her take off her blouse before they collided together again in another earth-shattering kiss, his hands caressing down the length of her back and then moving back up to unclasp her bra.

His hands worshiped her, cupping the soft mounds of her breasts and then for him to lean down and kiss and suckle them with fervor.

Nothing made sense anymore and he knew he'd been losing his mind since he first met her. Not on this show, but years ago when he was possessed and about to ruin the world.

And then she'd saved his world.

Giovanni made to kiss her again and she pushed back against him in the kiss. And it was push and pull, give and take. He had his pants off while one of his hands dragged up one of her legs, tugging at her panty and pulling it down. He played her tune, making her cry out while he got her wet and ready, until he was lined up against her and inching in slowly.

"Ash,  _sei tutto per me_ ," he moaned out, watching her intently as he pushed in, seeing her eyelashes fluttering while she let out quiet gasps underneath him.

Again, he kissed her and they rocked together slowly as he grabbed one of her thighs, hiking it around his waist and stroking from the curve of her buttocks to all the way to underneath her knee, grasping hold and keeping it as he thrust harder and faster.

" _Non posso vivere senza di te_ ," he gasped and he leaned his forehead against hers, his thrusts becoming wilder and more erratic the closer he was.

' _I don't want to live without you, so please don't make me.'_

They came together in a mess of entangled limbs and shuddering breaths.

Started 10/28/17 – Completed 10/28/17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (eyes end scene critically) I don't know if that qualifies for M (very doubtful it needs to be edited off and be considered MA though), but I feel it's on the border between T and M. It's not that explicit and it's short...


	21. The Finale?

Her mind was a mess. An utter mess.

Ash didn't know where her head was because she seemed all over the place now. It seemed like it had become the usual. After a new development with Giovanni, she would become unraveled and stuck in a disarray of thoughts and emotions.

"You alright?"

"Peachy," she muttered dazedly.

"Doesn't seem like it."

"Shut up, Guzma."

The white-haired man pouted, but she wasn't in the mood. Besides, it was his fault for assaulting her on her arrival to Alola. As soon as her boat had stopped at the dock, he appeared and had raucously 'welcomed' her home. That was a few days ago and she was still brooding about her night with Giovanni. She didn't even have Pikachu or Colress since they'd stayed behind in Pallet Town.

"I don't get it," Guzma dropped onto his front on her bed, having successfully finally snuck into the villa she was staying at. "What the hells going on, Ash? Not that I'm too unhappy. You left Alola like…a month ago? It's too long!"

"It wasn't that long," she rolled her eyes.

"It is too! Plumeria thinks I annoyed you away and the rest miss you. Plus, Tupp, Rapp, and Zipp keep pissin' me off about headin' to Kanto and askin' if we can stay for a bit. Or somethin' like that."

"What did Hala tell you?" Ash looked over to him with a fond smirk. "You're clipping your words again."

"Peh, who cares," Guzma grumbled.

She did kind of missed this. Alola had been the last place she'd been before she'd gone back to Kanto, and then had been dragged into this reality show mess. She'd run into Team Skull plenty of times, but they were just too inept and dorky for her to take serious and think they were a real Team. And then she met Guzma, the boss, and he was just a twenty-three year old punk that she ended up growing fond of.

She glanced at his fluffy white hair and idly reached up to alternately run her fingers through it or fluff it more. He blushed but instead of ducking away, he ducked closer to make it easier on her.

"You're such a Momma's Boy," she gave him a lopsided, affectionate grin.

He grumbled at her, but continued to stay in place.

But she did explain to him why she was there, leading to him to snort and try to stifle his laughing.

"Pffft! That's so stupid. Get outta here!"

She tugged on his hair harshly.

"O-ow! Okay, okay! Sorry," he was back to a pout. "So what's your problem?" You like him, don't you?" though he looked unruly at that, his bottom lip jutting out.

"He's the boss of Team Rocket," she shrugged, though that fact made Guzma blink and look at her warily. "Am I fine with it? Can I be with him despite of that? He's also clearly older than me. We have all these issues and we've both talked about it, had even said that it'll be fine…But is it? Will it be fine? And we can say that now, but what about later on? Is that still going to hold through?"

Guzma rubbed his temples. "Goddamn, girl. Gimme a headache. Why don't you just accept you want what you want? Why the fuck care about these dumbass details? If it was me, I'd be all over my girl and give no fucks about anything."

He gave her a quick glance, but she was busy in thought over what he said.

"What if he is thinking the same things though?" she chewed on her lip. "What if he's as bothered by all of this as I am?"

"Then quit your dumbass thinking!"

Ash couldn't help laughing a bit, but then there was a knock on her door and Guzma cursed.

"Ah shit, they're going to put security on my ass again. See you later!"

He jumped off her bed and headed to her window, using the windowsill to propel himself over it and out of her room. He started running as soon as his feet hit the ground.

Her door opened then and Wesley walked in, along with a cameraman.

"Morning," he greeted her. "How are you?"

"A mess," she sighed, plopping backwards onto her bed again.

"But you had a good date with Giovanni yesterday, didn't you?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Yeah. We went around Hau'oli City and acted like tourists. It was fun."

"Then what's wrong?" he raised an eyebrow at her.

"It's me and Janelle," she said morosely. "We're at the end of this thing. She's really pretty," she told him sullenly as she sat up.

Ash tugged at her hair, looking at the strands she held. "I'm okay. And even if she's a real piece of work, she's really gorgeous. She matches with him, you know? They look good together. She's closer in age to him and they'd be able to walk around and be the type of couple you'd think work well."

She looked at the camera before sighing. "You, me, and him know that we also have a complicated history. Our current relationship is equally complicated. And at the end of the day, we're worlds apart –he's a criminal boss and I'm just some young brat that used to interfere with him and his Team. He's older and more mature, and I've got issues that keep me from being anywhere okay with a relationship. It's just…I'm afraid that this won't work out. More than that, I'm afraid that he'll realize that and won't choose me in the end because of that."

Wesley sat next to her and took her hand. He gave her a kind smile.

"You're a wonderful person. It's been so obvious from the start that Giovanni saw you and practically no one else. So at least be confident in that."

"I don't know if I'm willing to accept him either," she whispered, having teetered on that decision.

"Then that's something you need to think about carefully," he said gently.

At least she had the rest of the day to think about it, since tomorrow was the day of the proposal.

_If_  he was going to propose.

* * *

Giovanni stared at himself in the mirror, fixing his tie mechanically.

It was the day.

He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. His choice should be so obvious, but it wasn't.

He knew he clearly cared for and admitted he was in love with Ash. That was true and will probably always be true.

But she was  _young_. He would tie her down, whether it was through this fake engagement and ruse he'd drag her through…or a real engagement that he so desperately wanted. He'd never wanted to be married or care to be before…but then this came about and no one else came to mind for it.

If he had a wife, he wanted to have no one but Ash be it.

Giovanni wasn't naïve though. There was still her to consider. Did she want to be married to  _him_? He had been her enemy not too long ago. Their truce began and was because of this reality show. Even if she would give it a try, despite her misgivings of who he was, would she be able to continue to live and be married to the boss of Team Rocket? Could she let herself do that?

He wondered if she was able to even really forgive him for what happened to Unova, much less whatever else he troubled and plagued her with through her life. They'd never really talked about it, especially because of all these damn cameras and rules of separation.

God forbid he think about his and her ages. It made him hate and curse Steven Stone all over again, because he knew the other liked Ash as well and was well closer to her in age than Giovanni.

Were they really just too far apart?

There was a knock and he tiredly called for them to come in. He saw Wesley walk inside, look him over, and then shake his head.

"We'll have you talk to the cameras in the Interview Room soon, but I think you need to talk to someone first," he closed the door behind himself and Giovanni was thankful when he gestured to the camera in the room to back off.

"Listen, usually we leave things to the Bachelor and Bachelorette and let them think it over and make their choices, even if we think it's a mistake," Wesley admitted to him. "But Ash has become a dear friend and even you have, and the fact you're even hesitating is worrying."

Wesley massaged the back of his neck cautiously. "You know, I've even come to like her myself," he further admitted, which caused Giovanni to give him a surprised look. "That's why this is especially important that I help you clear your head. I talked to her yesterday and I know she's as anxious as you are. So think about that, okay? Do you go with what you want in your heart or what you want in your head?"

Which made Giovanni flinched.

Ash was everything he wanted. But Janelle fit his need, exactly what he wanted and needed for the purposes he came onto the show for in the first place. She was pretty and his type physically. She was smart and had a razor sharp wit that could be cutting. He also wasn't stupid and hadn't bought her whole sweet and nice act either, because even if she played it up with him and for the cameras –he was used to those kinds of acts and could see through it easily.

But she'd be useful and fulfill every part of his checklist without the complications and emotions that came with choosing Ash.

"If I did choose her, would she say yes to me?" he asked quietly, becoming deep in thought.

Because if he did ask her and she ended up rejecting him…that would crush him on a level he'd never had to deal with. He was Giovanni, ruthless boss, but this small diamond of a girl could ruin him in a second.

He didn't know if he could handle that.

"That's up to her," Wesley answered honestly. "And you'll have to take that risk if you're willing to for her."

Giovanni thought it over and nodded slowly.

"I understand," he murmured.

* * *

He took a ferry to Akala Island and was driven to Janelle at the Tide Song Hotel first. He saw her waiting at the beaches, red hair elegantly tied into a bun at the top of her head as she wore a slim emerald silk dress.

He walked towards her, used to ignoring the following cameras by now. She saw him soon enough and turned to him with a bright smile that was on the edge of being a smirk.

Stopping in front of her, he forced his lips into a small smile as he gazed at her solemnly. Part of it was fake, part of it was not because he did feel bad for what was to come…

"Janelle, as I got to know you through this journey, I found that you and I were alike and as matching as people could be," he said and it wasn't a lie. She was conniving and full of sneers, and she could pretend with the best. He was just better at it than she was, and even better at spotting the act.

"You're beautiful," he continued and again that was true. She was a beautiful woman with her flowing red locks, and he'd always been partial of red heads. "You made my head turn from the beginning and I enjoyed all of our talks." The beginning part was at least true.

By then her smile had faltered and she looked slightly confused, and he knew she probably thought she had this in the bag. He decided to end it already, even if previous Bachelors and Bachelorettes had probably taken much longer with their rejection speeches.

"But I'm so sorry," he told Janelle. "I love someone else."

The tears came and to her credit, Giovanni didn't know whether or not these were real or fabricated.

"I don't understand!" she gasped out, crying while furiously wiping at her face. "We connected so well and I thought you and I were really meant to be together, that you really loved me."

He continued to look apologetic, even as he felt impatient and wanted to move onto Ash already. But he stayed there, soothing and apologizing to her.

Not that he got where she was coming from –he had never indicated or told her he'd loved her in any form. He'd only said he'd liked any of the women, which was true enough, but he'd never even gone past kissing any of them except for Ash. Not even Janelle in the Fantasy Suite. He'd managed to smuggle in a sleeping pill that wouldn't mix unhealthily with the alcohol and she'd passed out on him, letting him lead her to believe she'd been too tired the next morning.

He'd meant it when he said he wanted to be with only Ash.

"Please let me walk you out," he said regretfully, letting him douse all the sympathy and sorrow he could.

He carefully held onto her arms, directing her out of the beaches and to the hotel's long outside walkway, where he continued to help her to the waiting limo.

"I'm so, so sorry," he told her again. "I hope you will find someone to be truly happy with."

The limo door closed after her and soon the limo was pulling away from the curve. The producers moved towards him.

"Honestly, you're good," Zachary said in admiration. "I thought she'd throw a tantrum."

Giovanni shrugged, heading towards where he knew his limo was. "So did I."

The producers started to gape at him, glancing between him and the fading away limo.

"You…" Roger trailed off.

Giovanni turned slightly to them, even as he kept walking.

"Didn't Ash tell you? I'm just a charming bastard. Most of the time I'm an asshole."

He walked away and Wesley shook his head.

"H-how much of that did he fake?" Zachary gawped, glancing between Giovanni's retreating back and the beaches.

"All of it?" Lisa said faintly. "I mean Janelle did turn out to be a super bitch, who I was stuck with," she twitched as she muttered that part. "So my sympathy is null right now."

"I wonder how much of the  _show_  did he fake," Roger face palmed.

"Probably around 90% of it with everyone, and none of it when it came to Ash," Wesley snarked. "Let's get going. We have a ferry to catch and I think he's pretty eager to get to her."

The four of them went to get to their own ride and hope a happy ending was near.

* * *

Giovanni felt himself pick up speed as he entered Malie Garden. The moment he entered, he hurriedly looked around to see if he could find her.

His own heart raced rapidly, a strange notion since he'd always sneered and said he didn't have one.

He went further into the garden, almost running as his head swiveled around for a glimpse of her. And there! In the middle of this beautiful place, she stood in a vibrant red dress, the front designed like a toga while the back was a sweeping open drop that showed off the very skin he still remembered caressing…

"Ash," he breathed out and walked towards her with a purpose. "Ash!"

She turned at his shout and looked at him startled. At the last foot in distance, he made quick strides towards her and grasped onto her hands once he was right in front of her.

"I feel like I've been waiting on this day for a very long time," he started, uncaring of how obvious he was. "I tried so hard not to love you, but I do and you know I do. I don't know how I can stand a minute more just standing here in front of you, and not crush you to myself and kiss you breathlessly."

He got down on one knee, taking out the ring he'd had made. Even if it had to be Neil Lane because of the show, he'd stubbornly insisted to them that it be specifically made to what he wanted. Opening the velvet box, he showed her the round diamond cut ring, with the rose-gold floral design on either side of the diamond set prominently onto a sterling silver band.

"I don't want just today or tomorrow. I want forever," he said earnestly and this was the first time he would be so.

Nervousness wracked his body and it was almost ironic that someone like him could be so nervous. But when it came to her, it became such a natural reaction that it didn't matter who or what he was.

With her he was just a man that had found he adored her from the high heavens down to the very earth.

" _Sei la mia rosa_.  _Amore ti amo_ ," he took one of her hands again and kissed it. He looked up at her hesitantly. "Please marry me."

For a moment, there was nothing but shock on her face as she looked down at him. But then a smile slowly grew on her face.

"Of course!" she accepted and he himself began grinning uncontrollably, taking the ring out and putting it on her finger.

He tossed the box to the side and grabbed onto her, picking her up and twirling her around.

"Marry me," he said again, voice muffled against her as he pressed his face against her stomach.

"Yes!" she giggled.

"Marry me!"

"Yes!"

She laughed happily as he snickered, twirling her around once more.

Off to the side, the producers watched contentedly.

"They forgot about the final rose," Roger chuckled.

"We'll remind them in a second," Zachary sighed cheerfully.

"One day we'll have a wedding on set," Lisa added, hope and bliss in her voice.

Wesley smiled and nodded. One day.

"Hey, can I go congratulate Ash now?" the white-haired interloper asked grumpily.

"No," the producers said in unison, not even looking at him.

Guzma grumbled, but at least he'd been able to see all of this. Plumeria was going to be so jealous…

Started 10/28/17 – Completed 10/28/17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, the end! No joking, there's the after the filming stuff chapters too, as well as more confrontations, reactions, etc. etc. Hope you've guys have been enjoying! Please remember to review!


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